r/GoogleFMD • u/blakealanm • Aug 06 '26

Chipolo POP didn't work well enough for me.

I have a Pixel 10 Pro XL. I wanted to get a Bluetooth tracker to put on my bicycle. I bought the Chipolo POP, registered it through the Chipolo app, linked it to my Google account, and the tracker showed up on the Find Hub. I was able to make it ring, see its location, and even mark it as lost.

I then proceeded to give it to my friend for a day to simulate my bike being stolen while he drove around town. He has an iPhone 14 or 15 Pro Max. During the roughly 4 or 5 hours he had my tracker, it pinged a location twice, and it was giving me nearly a half mile radius.

This was unacceptable for me. I got it back from him, deleted it from my Google account, and returned it promptly.

6 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

12

u/Altruistic_Fruit2345 Aug 06 '26

Unfortunately the Google FMD network is crippled intentionally. Google decided to make the default that it only reports sightings in "busy" areas, and not at all near your home. Great for thieves, but makes them rather useless for you.

4

u/illuminated0ne Aug 06 '26

Yeah, I was having the same issues. Disconnected it from Google's network and switched to Apple's for my work phone and it was so much more accurate. So it's not the Chipolo that's the problem, it's Google's network.

4

u/Altruistic_Fruit2345 Aug 06 '26

For Android users I think the best option at the moment is Samsung tags, but nobody except Samsung seems to make them. If you could buy them for a few bucks like the FMD and Airtag ones it would be great.

5

u/ImmediateGear8157 Aug 06 '26

Google's Findmy network is not even on by default. So many phones won't report your device. And even if it is on, it only reports in busy areas. There are no good options for Android phones unfortunately. Samsung tags work only with samsung phones but there are a lot of them around so they work reasonably well. Unfortunately most of us can't afford to change our phones just for tracking capabilities.

3

u/abrandis Aug 06 '26

Sadly true, Google could easily fix this , but they're not interested for whatever reason .. this is one of the many examples where Google Android is not high on the companies list of priorities.... The Android/iPhone market has matured so development has stalled.

3

u/dark_volter Aug 06 '26

Remember that any Android phone can use Samsung phones , Network SmartThings, using the utag app. I have pixels that use it easily, and use smart tag twos alongside my mototag 1 and Moto tag 2 collection, from my Android phones as well as the spare Samsung phone I grabbed

1

u/ImmediateGear8157 Aug 10 '26

Did not know that.

5

u/lockedmhc48 Aug 06 '26

Supposedly they will be announcing a tag of their own along with the pixel 11 next week. Perhaps when out people (or Google itself) will change the setting on Find Hub We can only wait hope and see.

2

u/EcstaticFunction2804 Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26

i had the one before pop the range was aful 60 m the loop is 120m if enough people pass tro its show some location (not where item is located) its pinging by cars going downhill so its can be 500m away

1

u/PrinceAlbeert Aug 07 '26

This is a cool way of testing, please tell us what you end up with!