From your bike to your dog, the Apple AirTag will help you find your lost possessions with ease. It’s a fantastic device with a great user interface making finding your items almost like a game.

But, they forgot one thing.

Weirdly enough, the AirTag doesn’t come with a way to attach it to your things. Buying a keyring from Apple will cost you more than the device itself, while their collaboration with the fashion giant Hermès has produced a keyring for your AirTag worth… $299.

These hacks will make your AirTag far more practical and save you money at the same time.

Risky, but Worth It

A word of caution: making modifications to your AirTag will void the warranty and opening up the device can be difficult without causing damage.

It’s also worth noting that the AirTag has an IP67 rating, meaning that it has the highest protection against solid things like dust and sand entering the device, and the second-highest rating for protection against liquids.

Related:How to Use AirTags

Messing with the AirTag might alter its factory protection, although you can remedy this by using materials like a sealant to re-weatherproof the device.

But that aside, you will get more out of the AirTag if you can actually use it.

The fact that it’s a little unpractical in its current form has led people to engineer their own solutions. Some of the projects listed will reveal some ingenious ideas for how to put your AirTag to good use.

AirTag Card for Wallets

One of the ways that Apple suggests using the AirTag is to track your wallet, but as you will find, it’s far too bulky for this use. Andrew Ngai figured he could fix this problem by prying under the cover.

Inside, the AirTag is made up of a battery and a circuit board stacked vertically. This is good news for anyone wanting to make the AirTag slimmer by rearranging the components.

To do this, you will need to remove the battery and printed circuit board (PCB) from the plastic shell. This is a delicate process as the PCB is glued to the outer shell, and to remove it, you will need a heat gun to soften the adhesive and a spudger tool to gently pry up the board.

For this project, Ngai designed a 3D-printed card that the battery and board fit into. He also added a second CR2032 battery in parallel, extending the battery life to up to 2 years.

One thing to note: in the final product, the volume of the AirTag beeping sound sits around 70-80% of the original, due to a difference in materials used to house the board. This isn’t so bad though when you consider that the new AirTag card fits flush inside a wallet with a width of 3.2mm.

Drill a Keyring Hole

If only the AirTag came with a hole then you could easily attach it to your keys and never lose them. The fact that it didn’t might just make you angry enough to drill your own.

The guys over at iFixit took some time to completely take apart the AirTag, and in doing so, discovered exactly where the best place is to drill your own hole.

It’s a dangerous move, so make sure you know what you are doing. Once you’ve gathered up your confidence, you will need a 1/16th drill bit and a vice to hold the AirTag in place.

First, open the device and remove the battery. You can do this by using two thumbs to rotate the shiny metal plate cover counterclockwise. Luckily, the video demonstrates the exact position to drill, which you can then mark with a pen.

Next, drill through the plastic and hope that you haven’t damaged the device.

Finally, check that your AirTag still pairs with your phone, and remember, you will now need a sealant to help cover the gap to protect it from water and dust damage.

3D Printed Accessories for Your Drone, Bike, or Dog

If you have a 3D printer, then you can easily make your own AirTag accessory. For tech enthusiast Neo Chan, he came up with six different 3D printed designs that will help you attach the AirTag to anything.

The suggested filament material to use here is TPU (thermoplastic polyeruthane), not PLA (polylactic acid), as you need the plastic to be flexible enough to “snap” the AirTag into place.

One of our favorite designs is the AirTag holder mounted onto a drone. Chan has a Mavic Pro and with his 3D printed holder for the AirTag, you can mount the tracker onto the drone with a couple of plastic bands.

Related: The Best Places to Search for 3D Printing Models

This “soft mount” approach, as Chan calls it, gives the device flexibility in case of a crash, meaning that you have a lower chance of damaging the AirTag. In action, the AirTag is perfect for locating a lost drone. In a 30m area, Chan was able to locate the drone in about 5-6 minutes.

The other designs include a simple 3D-printed keychain which allows you to clip your AirTag onto your dog’s collar, alongisde a strap mount design to easily fix your AirTag onto items like a tripod or camera.

Finally, the 3D printed model for the bike covers the AirTag so that it's not identifiable and can be easily attached to a bike with a couple of zipties. To conceal the AirTag further, you can add a reflector to the case making it look like just another part of your bike.

Bonus: Permanently Embed Your AirTag in a 3D Print

What will you do with your AirTag? For Derek Quenneville, he figured, why not permanently seal it inside of an object.

There are two methods you can use involving a 3D printer. The first method uses additive printing and simply involves pausing your printer halfway through the process, and then inserting the AirTag. Once inserted, continue the print to seal the tracker inside.

The second method uses 3D resin printing. In this example, Quenneville designed a sculpture with a chamber at the bottom to hold the AirTag. After curing the sculpture, he places the AirTag into the chamber and fills it with resin.

After that, you will never lose your 3D printed object… that is until the battery runs out.

Make Your AirTag Truly Yours

Don’t be afraid to try some of these DIY solutions if it means you can make the most of your AirTag. For some, that means making modifications to attach it to your bike, and for others, to their drone. But for most of us, though, it might just mean putting it on our keys or in our wallet.

If you want to avoid buying yet another Apple accessory, these fantastic projects will help you out.