Stephen Schenck / Android Authority
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TL;DR
- Past Samsung SmartTag trackers have only supported monitoring through Samsung Galaxy phones.
- The just-announced SmartTag 3 formally extended that support to iOS devices.
- Samsung now clarifies that other Android models are getting access, as well.
Samsung just got finished introducing its new tablets last week, announcing the Galaxy Tab S12 Plus and Ultra. And while these were assuredly the stars of the company’s launch event, we also got to meet them alongside the latest generation of a familiar Samsung accessory — its SmartTag 3. We were already excited about the much broader device support we’re getting this time around, and now Samsung is clarifying exactly how expansive that really is.
Historically, Samsung’s trackers have been a bit limited in terms of their device support. While you could slap a SmartTag on anything you wanted to track, the SmartTag2, for example, worked with “Galaxy S24, Galaxy S25, Galaxy S26, Galaxy Z Fold, Galaxy Z Flip, and Galaxy A series smartphones running the latest version of the SmartThings app.” If you had a different phone, you were officially out of luck.
With the new SmartTag 3, however, Samsung’s been making a big deal about wider accessibility, announcing the arrival of iPhone support. And that’s great — but what about other Androids? It was easy to infer that Samsung’s expanded access would also be felt on the Android side of the fence, but we didn’t have formal confirmation from the company’s announcement.
Although US SmartTag 3 sales won’t begin until November, availability in South Korea gets started this week. Samsung’s product page for the region does appear to reflect general Android support for devices running Android 12 and later (translated):
Still not convinced? Android Police reached out to Samsung for confirmation, and was told outright:
Yes, SmartTag3 is compatible with other Android devices that have access to the Google Play Store to download the SmartThings and Samsung Find app.
That said, support for some specific SmartTag 3 features is still restricted. Samsung notes:
Compass View is available on Galaxy devices running Android 12 or higher that support Ultra-Wideband (UWB) or Bluetooth Channel Sounding.
Bluetooth Channel Sounding is currently supported only on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold 8, Galaxy S26 Ultra, and Galaxy S26+, with additional supported devices expected in the future.
Still, the situation now is looking a whole lot better than it has in years past. When we’re desperately searching for something we lost, we might not always be able to rely on having access to a Samsung phone nearby. By extending access across both Android and iOS, Samsung is taking a big step towards improving its tracker’s usefulness.
This post has been updated to correct the US release timeline for the SmartTag 3.
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