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Formula One pilot Sebastian Vettel chases thieves using the iPhone’s Find My app

Apple’s Find My lets users track the location of their devices, plus anything else tied to an AirTag. And while we’ve heard multiple stories about people who have recovered lost and stolen items thanks to this feature, this one involves none other than German Formula One pilot Sebastian Vettel – who chased down thieves using the Find My app.

As reported by the BBC, Vettel had his bag stolen outside a hotel in Barcelona. But instead of going directly to the police, Vettel had a different idea. The racer used Apple’s Find My app on his iPhone to see the real-time location of his bag.

According to a spokesperson for Vettel, this was possible not thanks to an AirTag, but because Vettel had Find My compatible earphones (presumably AirPods) in that stolen bag.

Unfortunately, despite the chase, it seems that the thieves were aware that AirPods can be tracked by the Find My app – so they discarded the earbuds on the street and made off with the bag and what was inside it. Vettel retrieved his earphones and reported the incident to the police.

A bag belonging to Sebastian Vettel was stolen in Barcelona this morning. He tried to find it by using his iPhone to track his earphones which were in his bag, but when he located his earphones he found them abandoned and was therefore unable to locate his stolen bag.

Quick update: In case you’re not familiar with it, Formula One racers are also known as “pilots.”

Find My app to the rescue

Apple's AirPods work Find My app.

If you have a third-generation AirPods, AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max, you can locate them in the Find My app even when they’re not near your iPhone. That’s because they support the same Find My Network as iOS devices, Macs, and AirTags.

Earlier this year, a man was able to recover his luggage that was lost by an airline by tracking it with an AirTag. There’s also the story of a stolen truck in Texas that was found because there was an AirTag hidden in it. Of course, not every story will have a happy ending, but it’s nice to see the possibilities of such technologies.

More about Find My

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Avatar for Filipe Espósito Filipe Espósito

Filipe Espósito is a Brazilian tech Journalist who started covering Apple news on iHelp BR with some exclusive scoops — including the reveal of the new Apple Watch Series 5 models in titanium and ceramic. He joined 9to5Mac to share even more tech news around the world.

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