this post was submitted on 04 May 2026
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How is it able to get the latitude and longitude of the devices? As far as I’m aware, the bluetooth spec doesn’t provide coordinates as part of its metadata. And you’d need some kind of triangulation method otherwise. I’m certainly not able to get the coordinates of my bluetooth devices. Wish I could, would make finding the remote a lot easier.
You can get RSSI and guesstimate the distance. Since it’s on a phone, you have the phones coordinates.
If the objects are moving in relation to each other, you can attempt a rudimentary triangulation. Its error prone, but you don’t need 100% accuracy.
I worked at a startup where we built industrial grade “apple air tags” and used phones to locate objects. This was like 10 years ago nowadays.
Maybe as a network scanner, because I know for "high accuracy" Android, for example, scans GPS, WiFi, and Bluetooth in combination to help determine better accuracy of location. If it picks up a store WiFi it's going to know you're within 100ft. Or some car has a built-in hotspot that either found. Not 100%sure without looking into it further, just speculation.