A woman I don't know came to my home twice, saying her phone showed her missing AirPods at my address. She returned with her boyfriend, insisted I must have picked them up, and said they had contacted the police. I have never seen the AirPods, and the woman has never been inside my house. How accurate is the location feature, and what should I do if they come back?
3 Answers
The Play Sound option may help, but it is not absolute proof. AirPods can be out of battery, disconnected, inside a case, or unable to play a sound. If they are actually nearby and connected, the owner can try playing a sound from outside, but you still have no obligation to open your home or allow a search. If police arrive, calmly explain what happened and show them any video evidence.
The location shown by Find My isn’t always precise, especially in neighborhoods with closely spaced homes or lots of nearby Bluetooth devices. It can point to the wrong house, show the last detected location, or update slowly. You don’t need to prove that you don’t have them—just clearly tell them they are not on your property and don’t let them inside.
If they return, keep the door locked and speak through it or a camera. Tell them once that you do not have their AirPods and that they need to leave. If they refuse, become threatening, or try to enter, call the police yourself and report trespassing or harassment. Save any camera footage and avoid arguing with them.
That helps. They were searching around outside before knocking, so I was confused about why the location still pointed to my address.