Guides / Rangefinder trackers for Android

Rangefinder trackers for Android: what actually works

Putting a tracker on your rangefinder is an obvious idea. On an Android phone, the choice of tag decides whether it is any use on a golf course.

Two different jobs: finding it, and not leaving it

A tracker can do one of two jobs:

Find it after it is gone. The tag reports its location through other people's phones, and you look it up on a map later.
Stop you leaving it. Your phone warns you as soon as the tag is out of range, so you turn around on the next hole.

On a golf course the second job matters more. A rangefinder left on a green is usually picked up by another golfer or a marshal within the hour. After that, a location on a map shows the clubhouse or someone's bag, and you still have to ask around.

AirTags

AirTags are set up and tracked with an iPhone. You can't use one as your own tracker with an Android phone. Android can only scan for unknown AirTags travelling with you, which is an anti-stalking feature, not a way to track your own gear.

Google Find Hub tags

Tags made for Google's Find Hub network work with Android and report their location through other Android phones. They are good at the first job, finding something later. Our understanding is that Find Hub doesn't warn you the moment you walk away from a tag, which is the alert you want on a golf course. These tags also change their Bluetooth identity on purpose, for privacy, so other apps can't watch them.

Samsung SmartTags

On a Samsung Galaxy phone, SmartTags can warn you when you leave one behind. That works only with a Samsung phone and Samsung's own tags.

Rangefinders with a built-in finder

Some newer rangefinders pair with the maker's app and can show where the phone last connected to them. If yours has this, turn it on. Most rangefinders in golf bags today don't.

Cheap Bluetooth keyfinders

The $5 to $10 "iTag" style keyfinders keep a fixed Bluetooth address. Their own apps are often unreliable and full of ads, but because the tag doesn't hide its identity, any app can watch it and alert you when it stops hearing it. They are small enough for a rangefinder case, run for months on a coin cell, and cost less than a sleeve of balls.

What to look for

Alerts within a minute or two, not just a map of where the tag was last seen.
A time limit for each item, so the rangefinder warns you sooner than the bag.
Works with no signal. Plenty of courses have poor coverage.
Low battery use for a four- or five-hour round.

That is the app we are building. CaddyGuard turns cheap Bluetooth tags into walk-away alerts on any Android 8+ phone: a time limit for each item, the hole where it was last heard, and a sunset check before you leave. One-time price, no subscription.

See CaddyGuard