- The Moto mark finally supports Ultra-Broadband Tracking
- This brings Android Find Hub Tracker on par with Apple’s Airtags
- There is no word yet about when others find Hub Trackers will support UWB
Googles Find Hub – In the past Find My Device – has been a pretty good Android alternative to the always useful Apple Find my service, with both the Android and iOS settings that help you find your lack of technology. But so far, Google’s service has lacked a key feature: Ultra-Wide Band Finding.
Find Hub can help you find your phone, headphones, compatible bluetooth trackers and even close friends and family, all from an app. If you haven’t used the service (admittedly, it may feel a little hidden behind Google’s better known Android apps), it’s a useful one-stop finding store that you want to add to your home screen.
However, it has lacked one of Apple’s core benefits of its Find My Service: Ultra-Wideband Tracking.
This upgraded variant of Bluetooth tracking allows your phone to more accurately track the exact location of the tag. Instead of just being longer or closer to the missing roof, the app can give you much more precise directions and distances thanks to UWB. But so far, No Find Hub devices offered UWB as an opportunity.
Finally, the Moto brand does it thanks to a firmware update, as discovered by the Android police. Once installed via the Moto roof app (currently rolling out through the Play store), you can start the Find Hub app and the updated tracker will be discoverable via UWB.
You also need an advanced smartphone. While a few year old devices support UWB, the feature is exclusive of premium models such as Google Pixel 6 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus and Ultra. Unfortunately, the standard flag vessels are missing the function so far.
Hopefully, when other UWB trackers arrive at Android, there will be more reason for budget-friendly devices to support it. Currently, Moto’s roof appears to be the only UWB device supported by Find Hub.
In addition to UWB, Google’s Find Hub is also set to get support to track some devices using satellites “later in the year” (via Google’s blog), making the service even more useful than it is at the moment. It would let the service not only catch up with Apple, but effectively take the lead.
