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Welcome to the OpenTagViewer wiki!
This wiki contains a summary of some good-to-know information when it comes to using the OpenTagViewer Android app.
To use the app at this point in time, you're going to need:
A (free) Apple Account with 2FA enabled either via SMS or Trusted Device
You may choose to create a "throwaway" Apple account for this purpose as well. However note that:
- You need to use this same Apple account while registering the AirTags from an iOS device, making this account the "Owner" (see issue #6)
- You can still share the AirTags to (your) other Apple accounts using the "Share this Device" feature in any of the official FindMy apps
- Reading your tags out of an account must be done as the owner — the account they are registered to. That is the app itself on the iCloud route, or the exporter on the zip route.
- Locating them afterwards only needs an account. If you imported a zip, the app can be signed in to any valid Apple account — an unrelated free one is fine, and it never needs to be the owner. This is why a zip somebody else exported for you works, and why self-made tags work at all.
One or more AirTags, FindMy Accessories or self-made OpenHaystack-like devices (the former two of which need to already be registered with Apple via the iOS FindMy app)
- ☑️ Non-Apple produced tags are supported -- anything that is officially supported by FindMy is supported
- ☑️ Custom, self-made tags are also supported — OpenHaystack and Macless Haystack. These were never registered with Apple, so they have no owning account: they go the key-file route rather than being read out of iCloud.
- Currently registration of AirTags requires somebody to have an
iOSdevice (i.e. iPad or iPhone) to register them with Apple - This iOS device is only needed once during AirTag registration
- You need to plan the currently logged in account on the iOS device carefully (you may choose to switch to another account after the initial registration)!
- You will need to log in to the same Apple account you used to register them later (issue #6)
- You can still share your AirTags with (your) other Apple accounts via the FindMy app -- this works as it would usually with Apple devices
- If you want to share your AirTags with other Android/OpenTagViewer users, you send them an "export zip" — which the app itself can now write, so you do not need a computer for that either. See how to share your tags.
A computer to run the exporter on — only if you take the zip route
- Not needed at all if you let the app read your account directly — see the two routes below. This applies to the export route only.
- Windows, Linux or a Mac. A Mac used to be required, because the exporter read files that only exist on macOS. It reads the same records out of iCloud now, so no Apple hardware is needed at any point.
- You will need the screen-lock passcode of one of your Apple devices — its PIN, or a Mac's login password. Not your Apple ID password. (On macOS 14 or older, not even that: the exporter reads that Mac's own files and never signs in.)
- This is only needed once*, to export details about the AirTags for import into the Android App — unless you decouple/reset and re-register the AirTags, which is a deliberate action taken from the FindMy app on an iOS or MacOS device.
1. Install the OpenTagViewer Android app on your phone 📲
👉 You can find back installation instructions here
2. Log in to an Apple Account in the app 🍎
You will likely be prompted to enter your 2FA code the first time you log in.
Only SMS and Trusted Device authentication is currently available.
Which account? If you are going to let the app read your tags out of iCloud (step 3a), this has to be the account they are registered to. If you are importing a zip (step 3b), it can be any valid Apple account at all.
Which one you want depends on what you have — the full comparison is here.
3a. Let the app read your tags from iCloud 🟢 — no computer needed
For AirTags registered to an Apple account you control. The app signs in, reads them out, and adds them. New tags you register later appear on their own.
You will need the screen-lock passcode of one of your Apple devices — its PIN or login
password, not your Apple ID password.
3b. Export a .zip on a computer and import it 🔵
For self-made tags, for a zip somebody else exported for you, or if you would rather not sign the app in to the owning account.
4. Profit! 🏆
You will now be able to track your AirTags on your Android phone indefinitely! 🎉🎉
Tip
Something not working? The app can write a log for you — how to export it.