Recommended iPhone settings for an AirTag bike mount
If you've bought our weatherproof AirTag bike mount (style: under water bottle holder), Apple's FindMy app is what you will use to locate your bike. It functions as a bike GPS tracker by harnessing Apple's network of hundreds of millions of devices. Here are the settings that I recommend and why I think they're important.
Notify when found: usually Disabled, Enabled if you bike has been stolen.
If this setting is disabled, you will need to visit the FindMy app to determine whether your bike can be located. You probably want to keep this setting disabled so you don't get false positive notifications if your bike is in a known location. You cannot enable this setting if the FindMy network has located your bike.
Notify when left behind: Enabled, except for at your home location
This notifies you if your bike is no longer detected near you. f you leave your bike at home, and then leave home, you probably don't need your phone to notify you of this. If you lock your bike up somewhere for an errand, or so on, you will receive a notification on your phone with the location of your bike. I find this to be helpful as it reminds me that the AirTag, in its hidden bike mount, is working correctly.
Within the FindMy app, you can specify locations under "Notify Me, Except At".
Lost mode: Disabled
I'd definitely disable lost mode for your bike AirTag. The reason: if your bike is not near you but in a known location, you probably don't want your bike's AirTag to be making noises or notifying people nearby on their phones that your bike is lost. If the bike (with the hidden AirTag) is in the possession of a thief, you probably won't want the thief to receive a message on their phone saying that the bike is lost. They will then know that there's a GPS tracker hidden in your bike. This will jeopardize your ability to continue to track the bike. I'd definitely leave this disabled, unless you have lost your bike somewhere for some reason and need to have others know so.
If you're looking for a more sustainable and weatherproof AirTag holder that also helps support bike education and advocacy, check out the Bike Sight. Made in Oakland, California, USA.
