Google is building what Apple already owns, but for Android.
In the quiet competition beneath the surface of everyday convenience, Google is preparing to enter the market for small tracking devices — those humble tools that help us remember where we've placed the things we value. Codenamed 'Grogu' and developed by the Nest team, the tracker would bring Google's considerable infrastructure to bear against Apple's AirTag and Tile, leveraging ultra-wideband precision and the vast Android ecosystem. It is, at its core, a statement: that the search for lost things is now a frontier worth claiming.
- Google has been quietly building a Bluetooth and ultra-wideband tracker — codenamed 'Grogu' — as its first serious answer to Apple AirTags and Tile's years-long head start.
- Developer and leaker Kuba Wojciechowski surfaced internal code references revealing the device's technical specs, internal names, and integration with Google's Fast Pair system.
- The tracker's UWB support is the sharpest edge in the room — where Bluetooth tells you something is near, UWB tells you exactly where to reach.
- Google's Pixel 6 Pro and 7 Pro already carry UWB hardware that has sat largely unused, and a tracker could finally give that capability a meaningful purpose.
- A Google I/O announcement in May and a fall hardware launch alongside new Pixel phones appears to be the working timeline, though nothing is confirmed.
- The broader signal is strategic: Google is assembling an ecosystem where Android users have a native, Google-backed reason to stay — and to find what they've lost.
Google is building a small location tracker, codenamed 'Grogu' after the beloved Star Wars character, through its Nest team. It represents the company's first genuine push into a market Apple has dominated with AirTags and that Tile has occupied for years. The details emerged in January 2023 from developer and reliable leaker Kuba Wojciechowski, who found references buried in Google's code pointing to a tracking tag also listed internally as 'GR10' and 'Groguaudio.'
What sets the device apart technically is its dual support for Bluetooth LE and ultra-wideband (UWB) technology. Bluetooth can signal that a device is close; UWB can tell you the direction and distance with meaningful precision. Google's Pixel 6 Pro and 7 Pro already include UWB hardware, though it has seen little practical use — a tracker would change that calculus entirely. The device is also expected to include an internal speaker and come in multiple colors, mirroring the AirTag experience while being built natively for Android through Google's Fast Pair pairing system.
Wojciechowski speculates that Google will unveil the tracker at its annual I/O developer conference in May, then release the hardware in the fall alongside new Pixel phones — positioning it as part of a wider ecosystem play. A 'Finder Network,' likely crowdsourcing location data from Android devices, could extend the tracker's reach even without UWB.
The deeper meaning is strategic. Google is signaling that it no longer intends to cede the accessories market to Apple or smaller rivals. With hundreds of millions of Android users and the infrastructure to support a tracking network, the company has the foundation. What remains is the execution — and whether Grogu, if it reaches shelves as described, can turn that foundation into something people actually clip to their keys.
Google is building a tracker to find your lost keys, your wallet, your phone—anything you can clip a small device to. The project, codenamed "Grogu" after the small green character from Star Wars, is being developed by Google's Nest team and represents the company's first serious move into a market that Apple has already claimed with AirTags and that Tile has occupied for years.
The details come from Kuba Wojciechowski, a developer known for reliable leaks about Google's unreleased products. In a Twitter thread posted in mid-January 2023, Wojciechowski laid out what he'd found buried in Google's code: references to a location-tracking tag designed to work with Fast Pair, Google's system for quickly connecting Bluetooth devices to Android phones. The tracker also goes by the internal names "GR10" and "Groguaudio," suggesting the company has been working on this for some time.
What makes Google's version potentially competitive is the technology underneath. The tracker will support both Bluetooth LE—the low-energy standard that keeps battery drain minimal—and ultra-wideband, or UWB, a more precise locating technology. That matters because while Bluetooth can tell you a device is nearby, UWB can show you which direction it is and how far away. Google's flagship Pixel phones, the 6 Pro and 7 Pro, already have UWB built in, though the company hasn't yet found much use for it beyond a feature called Nearby Share. A tracker would change that.
According to Wojciechowski's reporting, the device will likely come in multiple colors and include an internal speaker, letting users make the tracker emit a sound to help locate it in a couch cushion or under a bed—the same approach Apple uses. Whether the tracker will actually require UWB or simply support it remains unclear; Wojciechowski notes that Google's planned "Finder Network," presumably a system for crowdsourcing location data from other Android devices, could work with Bluetooth alone.
The timeline is educated guesswork at this point. Wojciechowski speculates that Google will announce the technology at Google I/O, the company's annual developer conference typically held in May, then release the actual hardware later in the year alongside new Pixel phones at Google's fall event. That would give the company time to refine the product and build out the infrastructure to support it. It would also position the tracker as part of a broader ecosystem push—a reason to buy a Pixel phone, use Android, and stay within Google's services.
The tracker's existence signals something larger: Google is no longer content to let Apple and smaller competitors own the accessories market. As phones become more central to daily life, the ability to find them—and everything attached to them—becomes more valuable. Google has the advantage of a massive installed base of Android users and the infrastructure to support a tracking network. What it needs now is the product itself. If Grogu makes it to market as described, it will be a straightforward competitor to AirTag, but one built from the ground up for Android and backed by Google's resources. The real test will be whether the company can execute on the promise.
Notable Quotes
Even though Google's tracker most likely has UWB, it's not a requirement for the 'Finder Network' they're working on — BLE is enough.— Kuba Wojciechowski, developer and leaker
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does Google need to build this? Apple already has AirTags. Tile already exists. What's the gap?
The gap is Android. Apple's tracker only works well with iPhones. Tile works across platforms but it's a smaller company with less infrastructure. Google has hundreds of millions of Android users and the ability to build a network where any Android phone can help locate a lost tracker. That's powerful.
So it's really about ecosystem lock-in.
Partly, yes. But also about usefulness. If you own a Pixel and lose your keys, you want a tracker that talks to your phone seamlessly, that uses the same pairing system, that leverages the hardware already in your device. Google's building that.
The codename is Grogu. That's oddly specific. Does that tell us anything?
It tells us Google's engineers have a sense of humor, and that this project has been running long enough for internal names to stick. Codenames usually stick when a project is real and ongoing, not just a prototype someone abandoned.
What about the ultra-wideband part? Is that actually important or just a spec sheet advantage?
It's genuinely important. Bluetooth can say "your keys are near." UWB can say "your keys are 15 feet that way." In a crowded room or a parking lot, that difference is everything. But it only matters if your phone has UWB, which right now means Pixel 6 Pro and 7 Pro. That's a limitation.
So Google's betting people will buy Pixels partly for this.
Exactly. It's one more reason to choose Android, one more reason to choose Pixel specifically. That's the real play.