A brand new open-source Android app referred to as uTag lets customers use Samsung SmartTags with non-Samsung Android units. Samsung SmartTags work like Apple AirTags and use ultra-wideband expertise for extra correct location monitoring.
Samsung SmartTags often solely work with Samsung Galaxy units as a result of the SmartThings app is required to arrange and observe SmartTags. This app contains protections that stop it from getting used on non-Samsung units. Options like SmartThings Discover, which exhibits the situation on a map, are solely obtainable on Samsung Galaxy telephones as a result of they require Samsung’s One UI.
uTag overcomes these limitations by working with a tweaked model of the SmartThings app. When organising uTag, a modified SmartThings APK is downloaded and put in, permitting entry to SmartTag options on non-Samsung units. This modified app facilitates communication between uTag and SmartTags.
uTag is the primary app that allows exact monitoring of SmartTags utilizing UWB expertise on units that Samsung would not make. Along with the options present in SmartThings, uTag robotically scans for close by unknown SmartTags and notifies customers of their places, which is simpler than guide scanning within the SmartThings app.
uTag is totally free however have to be downloaded from GitHub as an Android APK file. To make use of uTag, you will want an Android machine that runs model 11 or newer. To make use of it, it’s essential log in with a Samsung account utilizing each the modified SmartThings app and uTag to entry Samsung’s companies.
It lets customers observe and map places, view location historical past, share places, get notifications for misplaced tags, and make the SmartTag make sounds. Whereas this raises some safety considerations, the open-source nature of uTag lets customers have a look at the app’s code so customers can see how their data is managed.