Anti-Theft
Mode
The Problem
Tile needed a way to differentiate it’s trackers from competitive offerings. we developed and implemented “Anti-Theft Mode” for the Tile app. This feature enhances security by making Tiles undetectable to Bluetooth scanning devices and preventing alerts that might tip off thieves to the presence of a tracker. The goal was to maintain the tracker’s effectiveness in recovering stolen items without revealing its existence to unauthorized users.
My Role
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UX/UI Design
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Copy
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Illustrations
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Usability Testing
The Team
Overview
Tile trackers have become a popular solution for locating lost or misplaced items, but this utility posed a challenge in theft scenarios. Many Bluetooth scanning apps could detect Tiles, making it easy for thieves to identify and disable or discard them, rendering the tracker ineffective. The challenge was to build a feature that allowed Tile trackers to remain hidden from common Bluetooth scanners while still being locatable by their rightful owners, all without compromising the overall user experience or functionality.
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Sal Amarasinghe, Product Manager
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Chris Chan, Engineering Manager (Mobile)
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Mike Ness, Staff Cloud Engineer
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Arash Omar, iOS Engineer
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Barry Sia, Android Engineer
Features
Enhanced Security
Ease of Use
Multilingual Functionality
Soultion
We developed Anti-Theft Mode, a feature that, when activated, prevents Tiles from being discoverable via Bluetooth scanning tools. This makes the Tile effectively invisible to thieves using apps to detect nearby Bluetooth devices. Additionally, Anti-Theft Mode suppresses any audio or notification alerts that could give away the presence of the tracker. The tracker continues to send location data to the owner’s device in the background, allowing the user to locate their lost or stolen item discreetly.
The mode was designed with a seamless activation process in mind: users can enable Anti-Theft Mode directly through the Tile app, and the feature remains active until the user disables it. This stealth mode does not affect the normal tracking functionality for the owner, ensuring that they can still see the item’s location in real-time.
Outcome
The introduction of Anti-Theft Mode significantly improved the effectiveness of Tile trackers in theft scenarios. Early adopters of the feature reported a marked decrease in incidents where stolen items were recovered without the tracker being detected and removed by thieves. The new mode provided peace of mind to users concerned about protecting their valuables, without adding complexity to the app’s user interface.
Additionally, this feature enhanced Tile’s value proposition in the market by addressing a critical user need—stealth tracking for theft recovery. As a result, user engagement and satisfaction with Tile trackers improved, with more users adopting the product for security purposes rather than just for tracking lost items.
This case study demonstrates how addressing real-world user concerns through innovative features can elevate a product’s effectiveness, build user trust, and enhance its market competitiveness.
Press
In addition to the functional benefit to our users the addition of the Anti-Theft feature generated significant levels of earned media and succeeded in differentiating Tile's market position from that of it's primary competition.​
