Why do AirTags need camera access?

Question

Has anyone else seen this? When you try to find an Airtag, iPhone will complain if there is not enough light in the scene, and the camera is clearly running in the background. What are they doing with this information?

sybercecurity · Accepted Answer

One legit reason may be some sort of AR feature (that may not be fully baked). Not sure how precise that would be (don't have any AirTags to check).https://www.wired.com/story/apple-airtags-future-of-augmente...

orbz · Answer

It&rsquo;s most likely for the AirTag AR functionality to show where the tag is located.

Why do AirTags need camera access?

Has anyone else seen this? When you try to find an Airtag, iPhone will complain if there is not enough light in the scene, and the camera is clearly running in the background. What are they doing with this information?

One legit reason may be some sort of AR feature (that may not be fully baked). Not sure how precise that would be (don't have any AirTags to check).
https://www.wired.com/story/apple-airtags-future-of-augmente...

It’s most likely for the AirTag AR functionality to show where the tag is located.