Nut’s item tracker uses Nordic SoC for Bluetooth LE location finding with the Apple Find My app

Nutale Smart Finder uses nRF52832 SoC to help users locate valuables as part of the Apple Find My network

A new lightweight item finder developed by China-based company, Nut, helps users locate their missing valuables. The ‘Nutale Smart Finder’ device works exclusively with the Apple Find My™ network, comprising hundreds of millions of Apple devices around the world. By attaching the Find My-enabled Nutale Smart Finder to personal belongings such as keys, backpacks, and purses or wallets, and adding it to the Apple Find My app on their iPhone or iPad, users can locate missing or misplaced items through the private and secure Apple Find My network.

Apple Find My network requirements

The integrated Nordic nRF52832 SoC supports Bluetooth® 5.3 with a maximum transmit power of 4 dBm, which meets the requirements of the Apple Find My network. Even if the item is far away from the iPhone or iPad and out of effective Bluetooth LE range, Nutale Smart Finder continues to support the Find My Network. If the item is small and difficult to find, the user can issue a command in the Find My app to trigger a loud (110 dB) ringtone.

The nRF52832 SoC’s processing power and large memory capacity enable the Find My Network's privacy protection and security to be realized

Bing Han, CTO at Nut

The nRF52832 SoC’s 64 MHz, 32-bit Arm® Cortex® M4 processor with floating point unit (FPU) performs the core processing for Nutale Smart Finder, enabling the device’s built-in motion sensors to monitor the status of the item in near real time. Nordic’s ‘Apple Find My network compatible Software Development Kit (SDK)’ enabled the developers to easily design the Find My network-capable Bluetooth LE device and maximize battery performance. As a result, Nutale Smart Finder achieves more than one year of battery life prior to replacement of its CR2032 button battery.

Devices that support the Find My network send out a secure Bluetooth LE signal so nearby Apple devices in the network can detect it and report its approximate location to owners. These devices send the location of the hardware to iCloud for the device to be located on the map in the Find My app. The entire networking process is end-to-end encrypted and anonymous, so no one else, not even Apple, Nut, or Nordic Semiconductor can view an item’s location, or the location or identity of any device that helped locate it.

Processing power

“The nRF52832 SoC’s processing power and large memory capacity enable the Find My Network's privacy protection and security to be realized,” says Bing Han, CTO at Nut. “Nordic’s high-quality SoCs, comprehensive SDKs, and other development tools have provided us with excellent support for designing stable and reliable item finding solutions.

“Using mobile devices such as smartphones to locate Bluetooth LE products greatly reduces power consumption compared to GPS positioning products, saving energy and costs,” adds Han.

“Find My technology has brought community to item finding applications, and we are happy to see Nut using a Nordic Bluetooth LE product in its latest tracker supporting the Apple Find My network,” says Leon Wu, Regional Sales Manager – North China, at Nordic Semiconductor.

“Nut has already brought lots of innovative ideas into item finding, and with the support of Find My, the company will offer more options to improve the user experience. Nordic has devoted great resources to maintain the wireless connectivity ecosystem, and our collaboration with Nut in Find My proves our strong coverage across various wireless protocols,” says Wu.