Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag has been a steady option for item tracking, often working better than Google’s Find My Device network despite being exclusive to Samsung Galaxy devices and not working on other Android phones. But, now, an app exists – for now – to allow users to use a Galaxy SmartTag with other Android phones.
Android’s Find My Device network, while it is improving, is still pretty poor compared to Apple’s. And, surprisingly, Samsung holds up quite well compared to Google’s as well. That’s despite Samsung having a much smaller pool of devices to leverage, as its network works exclusively with Galaxy devices.
That improved functionality is what pushed forward the development of “uTag,” a new Android app which can bring support for Galaxy SmartTag to any Android smartphone.
The app, available only for sideloading, works by “patching” the Samsung SmartThings app to avoid a check to see if the device being used is a Samsung Galaxy. From there, the “uTag” app takes over with a map to show a tracker’s location, location history, and controls to ring the tracker. On compatible phones, it can even use UWB to find a nearby tracker more precisely, something Google’s network still doesn’t support.
By default, “uTag” won’t contribute itself to Samsung’s network, but you can turn that option on. You can also turn on alerts for unknown trackers, and the app has homescreen widgets to show tracker locations.
The tough part about “uTag” is that there’s no guarantee it’ll last. The app doesn’t just take advantage of Samsung’s infrastructure, but directly modifies it against the company’s will. There’s no direct indication that Samsung will shut “uTag” down, but it’s certainly not out of the question. “uTag” developer Kieron Quinn notes on Twitter/X that Samsung has looked over similar apps in the past, but it’s hard to know anything for certain in this case.
The other thing to keep in mind is that the app needs to be linked to a Samsung account, something that could raise red flags for you as a user should Samsung decide to take action against the app (Samsung accounts are free to create, though, so you don’t necessarily have to use a “real” one).
With that said, it’s probably best not to invest heavily in Galaxy SmartTags just to use this app. While they’re generally inexpensive – a pack of four Galaxy SmartTag 2 trackers is currently under $60 – it’d be throwing money into the wind should the app be shut down.
But if you’ve got one sitting around, this seems like a nice way to put it to good use without needing a Galaxy device.
More on Android:
- Android’s Find My Device network seems to actually work now
- What’s new in Android’s February 2025 Google System Updates
- Gemini Live switching to phone call-style notifications on Android
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