What's the current/future state of Android bluetooth tracker tech?

These articles published today iimply Android may get tracking API's native.
�*Google looks to be building Bluetooth tracker detection directly into Android*
�<https://9to5google.com/2022/03/29/android-bluetooth-tracker-detection/>
"In mid-March, Google started working on the capability in Play services,
which should allow for wide availability on modern Android devices.
The latest version (22.12.13) today directly references
"Unfamiliar device alerts" and a "Unfamiliar Tag Detected Notification"
for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tags."

*Android may get its own built-in Bluetooth tracker detection*
�<https://www.engadget.com/google-android-bluetooth-tracker-detection-apk-105049987.html>
"A new APK indicates Google is at least looking into OS-level detection
for errant AirTags and Tile trackers."

�*Google may soon add a built-in Bluetooth tracker detection feature in Android*
�<https://www.xda-developers.com/google-bluetooth-tracker-detection-feature-android-in-development/>
"According to the following strings, the feature will be able to detect
Apple's AirTag, Tile tag, and Finder tag.
<string name="atag_device_name">ATag</string>
<string name="finder_device_name">Finder tag</string>
<string name="tile_device_name">Tile tag</string>
In addition to detecting, it looks like Google will also allow Android
users to ring an identified tag. This will be similar to how Apple
lets you play a sound on unknown AirTags."

A search for bluetooth trackers on the Google Play Store shows Apple APKs.
*Tracker Detect* by Apple
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apple.trackerdetect>

Anyone know more about the current state of Android bluetooth tracker tech?
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Andy Burnelli wrote:

> What's the current/future state of Android bluetooth tracker tech?

When governments were interested in using bluetooth beacons for covid tracking,
I thought google said basically "oh shit, we're halfway through ripping beacon
functionality out of android"?

Andy Burns wrote:

>> What's the current/future state of Android bluetooth tracker tech?
>
> When governments were interested in using bluetooth beacons for covid tracking,
> I thought google said basically "oh shit, we're halfway through ripping beacon
> functionality out of android"?

To your point, I haven't heard any news lately on the doomed
covid-surveillance technology, other than Apple & Google said "oh shit -
we'd better do it before they do."

That "oh shit" reminds me that Google hated this beacon simulator app:
*Beacon Simulator/Scanner*, by Hiribarren, free, adfree, gsffree, etc.
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.alea.beaconsimulator>
"this release is due to the suppression of the previous one by Google."

But isn't beacon scan technology completely different in terms of scope?
*iBeacon & Eddystone Scanner* by flurp, free, adfree, gsffree, etc.
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.flurp.beaconscanner.app>
Scans and shows details about every iBeacon, Eddystone
(UID, URL, TLM frames) and AltBeacon in your vicinity.
* UUID, Minor and Major values for iBeacons/Altbeacons
* URL, UID and TLM frames for Eddystone
* Proximity value (immediate, near, far)
* Distance to beacon
* TX and RSSI values
* A graph showing the last RSSI values
* Bluetooth information like MAC address and more
* Dump beacon data to local CSV file
* Send beacon data to a web API via POST requests
* Copy and paste single beacon data snippets

It would be nice to know what others use for a beacon tracker/scanner?
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BTW, educated intelligent normal self esteem people are not afraid to admit
when they don't know something (leave that for the low-iq ikooks); where if
I don't know it, maybe others don't know what "Eddystone" is either.
<https://duckduckgo.com/?q=what+is+eddystone>

Here are some hits which flesh out what it means when you say "Eddystone".
(If you can provide further details, that would be of interest to all.)

*Eddystone is a beacon standard*
<https://what-is-the-meaning-of.com/technology/eddystone/>
"Eddystone is Google's response to Apple's iBeacons.
A big difference with iBeacons is that Eddystone is open source.
This means that it can be deployed on multiple platforms."

*What is Eddystone Beacon?*
"It's an open Bluetooth Low Energy beacon protocol created and developed
by Google and released in 2015. More to being open, it's also
multi-platform. This means that you use it as Eddystone iOS and in
Eddystone Android devices. Eddystone was built to bring in support
for all android devices, BLE compatibles as well as iOS devices,
and it has all the official tools to do it."

*Eddystone is a BLE beacon format defined by Google*
<https://www.lairdconnect.com/support/faqs/what-eddystone>
"It is similar in function to an iBeacon but adds additional functionality
in an open format. Eddystone beacons use three different frame types
which can be used individually or in combination. The three frame types
include UID: A beacon ID which can be used for location aware applications
URL: A short format URL in a beacon to allow the beacon receiver to visit
a website TLM: Telemetry information about the beacon such as battery
voltage and temperature. More information about Eddystone can be found
at the links below."
<https://developers.google.com/beacons>
<https://github.com/google/eddystone>
<https://github.com/google/eddystone/blob/master/protocol-specification>

*All About Eddystone Beacon*
<https://www.mokoblue.com/all-about-eddystone-beacon/>
"In 2013, Apple released its iBeacon, which was integrated with Apple
devices' iOS operating systems. It was meant to send unique identifier
signals to approaching or nearby phones or tablets. They were used for
offline indoor navigation. Two years later (2015), Google released
their BLE Eddystone beacon as an iBeacon competitor.
Unfortunately, the Google Eddystone beacon platform failed three
years later, in 2018."

*Do I need an app for Eddystone?*
<https://bleesk.com/eddystone-platform.html>
"Since December 6th, 2018 Google stopped serving Nearby Notifications
and therefore you need a dedicated mobile app to receive Eddystone
URL packets."
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