Apple Tries to Limit Offensive AirTag Engravings... With Mixed Results - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple Tries to Limit Offensive AirTag Engravings... With Mixed Results

Apple's AirTag item trackers can be custom-engraved using text, numbers, and even emoji, but users looking to express some college humor will likely need to look elsewhere, because Apple's online AirTag personalization tool is easily offended.

airtag engraving 69
An ‌AirTag‌ is just big enough to fit up to four characters or up to three emoji. That might seem just enough to get dubiously creative with your diction, but as The Verge points out, Apple puts pretty strict limitations on what you can emblematize on an ‌AirTag‌.

For instance, a Pile of Poo emoji can't come after a Horse Face emoji, but other animal-poo combinations are fair game. Similar limitations apply to potentially offensive words spelt out with text, although some customers will surely find their own ways around the system.

airtag engraving no
This isn't the first time Apple has clipped the wings of would-be comedians and toilet humorists – many of the same emoji restrictions are present on AirPods and iPad engravings, for example. However, the ability to engrave several, more affordable AirTags is likely to introduce more people to Apple's guarded funny side.

airtag engraving emoji
AirTags‌‌‌ start at $29 each or $99 for a four-pack. Online orders open this Friday, April 23, with ‌‌‌AirTags‌‌‌ shipping April 30. Engraving is free.

Related Roundup: AirTag
Buyer's Guide: AirTag (Buy Now)

Popular Stories

Second Generation AirTag Feature

Apple Launched AirTag 5 Years Ago Today

Thursday April 30, 2026 5:51 am PDT by
Apple's AirTag item tracker turns five years old today, with the $29 accessory having spent half a decade as the best-selling item tracker in the world. The AirTag launched on April 30, 2021, alongside the M1 iMac, a new iPad Pro, and a new Apple TV 4K. The coin-shaped accessory has a polished stainless steel back, IP67 water resistance, and a U1 Ultra Wideband chip that powers Precision...
Second Generation AirTag Feature Purple

Apple Faces Dozens of Lawsuits Over AirTag Stalking After Class Action Denied

Friday May 1, 2026 2:39 pm PDT by
Apple is facing over 30 lawsuits from people who claim to have been stalked using Apple AirTags. The filings come after an AirTag lawsuit from 2022 (Hughes v. Apple) failed to get class certification. In each filing, Apple is accused of releasing the AirTag while being aware that it could be "purchased and used by abusive, dangerous individuals, to track, coerce, control, and otherwise...
iOS 27 on iPhone 17 1

iOS 27 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday May 2, 2026 8:43 am PDT by
Apple is expected to unveil iOS 27 during its WWDC 2026 keynote on June 8, and there are already many rumored features and changes for iPhones. The first developer beta of iOS 27 will likely be available immediately following the keynote, and a public beta typically follows in July. Following beta testing, the software update should be released to all users with a compatible iPhone in...

Top Rated Comments

Populus Avatar
66 months ago
I’m a bit tired of all this “censor” Apple applies to make everything so politically correct. I know this message is going to receive a lot of downvotes but this time I’ll understand it, because it is a controversial comment. Even if MR deletes it, yeah, I can understand.

That said, it feels certainly silly when I try to type (swiping) swearing words on iOS 14 and Apple has forbidden many words and pair of words to appear in the suggestions, thus, making it impossible to use those words by swiping, both in English and Spanish. It feels childish, at least let us disable it if we want! (There are people over 18yo using Apple devices too). And no, including those words into the dictionary no longer works like it did on iOS 13.

On the device engravings I can understand the decision to an extent. But with the iOS keyboard and other areas, I cannot get it.
Score: 59 Votes (Like | Disagree)
66 months ago
Snowflakes.. Can’t even let a horse take a ****!
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
66 months ago
Horse Poo is not okay but Unicorn Poo is? What kind of discrimination is that?
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ted Lasso Avatar
66 months ago
Why no key emoji?
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Akrapovic Avatar
66 months ago

… lets say free speech?
You know you've found an American when they start talking about free speech without understanding that a private company not providing the specific option that you want doesn't come under free speach. But as long as we've got those freedumbs.

----

Anyway. I'd be more interested in the obvious oversights in emojis here. Why is the key emoji not there? Why not a house? and a car? so I can combine emoji into "Car Key" and "House Key" and where is the backpack emoji? It doesn't seem very well through through.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
66 months ago
So if you're unlucky enough that your initials spell out something apple doesn't approve you can't have your initials engraved on the air tags either?
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Related Apple News: Reviews | Iphone | Motoring | Mac | Iphone