Overview
- Elevation Lab notified customers that the Silencer is no longer for sale and removed product listings from its store.
- The Silencer’s instructions told users to remove the AirTag battery, align a pin over the speaker, and strike the accessory so the pin pierced the device and silenced its sound.
- Elevation Lab said it designed the product to hide trackers on items like bikes but acknowledged the device could help people with bad intentions and pledged to stop similar products using its patent.
- Apple’s AirTags emit audible alerts when separated from their owner to warn people about unknown trackers, and Apple has strengthened those protections over time with a louder speaker and stronger adhesive on AirTag 2 to make tampering harder.
- MacRumors said it withheld initial coverage to avoid publicizing a tool that defeats safety features and critics described the Silencer as dangerous, making the removal a response to ethical concerns about enabling covert tracking.