uTag lets you use Samsung’s SmartTags trackers with any Android device

Samsung’s SmartTags trackers and Galaxy Find network offer similar functionality to Apple’s AirTags and Find My network, including precision finding using ultra wideband (UWB) radios. The downside is that they only work with Samsung Galaxy devices. A free open-source app called uTag (short for Universal Tag), developed by Kieron Quinn, lets Samsung’s SmartTags trackers work with Android devices that run Android 11 or later.

Samsung’s SmartThings app, which is used to configure and control various smart home devices, is compatible with any Android or iOS device. However, the app includes a software check, so that you can only set up a SmartTag tracker when the app is running on a Samsung Galaxy device. Certain features of the SmartThings app — including SmartThings Find, which lets you track the location of SmartTags on a map — also rely on software that’s only available on Galaxy devices through Samsung’s One UI user interface.

uTag replaces SmartThings’ tracking and map functionality with a companion Android app that replicates most of the features in Samsung’s apps. These include notifications for when a Tag is left behind, sharing its location with others, triggering its ringtone, and viewing its location history.

In addition to using a SmartTag on a non-Galaxy device, uTag is the “first tag tracking app on non-Samsung devices to support precise tracking” through UWB, according to Quinn, which is a feature still not available on Google’s Find my Device app. uTag also includes functionality not offered through Samsung’s SmartThings app, such as the ability to automatically scan periodically for unknown Tags, with notifications showing where one was detected. With the SmartThings app alone, scans for unknown Tags can only be started manually, limiting the usefulness of the feature.

uTag is available for free through GitHub as a downloadable Android APK. The app will download and install a modded version of SmartThings during setup that disables its device checks for Galaxy hardware and allows the app to communicate with uTag. You’ll also need to sign in with your Samsung account on the SmartThings app and on uTag so that it has access to necessary Samsung APIs. There’s always a risk when signing in to third party apps, but this is why Quinn has opted to release uTag as an open source app, allowing users to see exactly what it’s doing with those credentials.