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Tile app connects you to the world’s biggest lost and found

I’ll admit it: I’m a little forgetful. I’m notoriously bad about leaving my keys somewhere in my home, only to have no idea where it is when I’m running out the door. The number of times I’ve said to my significant other “it would be so much easier if I could just call my keys,” like I do when I lose my cell phone, is embarrassing.

It seems like someone else had the same idea, and has come up with Tile, a small device you can attach to just about anything to keep track of your belongings.

The small white square can be hung from a key ring, or stuck to just about any surface with a double-sided adhesive that comes with the device.

Each Tile pairs with the app on your iOS device (the only OS it’s currently available for), then when an object you have a Tile attached to goes missing, you can use the app to track it down, as it shows you how close you are to the object. You can also trigger an audio alert on Tile, helping you find your missing belongings even faster.

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But what if your object isn’t just missing in your house, what if you left your keys in a restaurant across town? The developers behind Tile are aiming to build a community of Tile users, so if another person with Tile is within range of your missing item, you can be notified.

They manage to turn this feature into some kind of pseudo-dating service in this promotional video, but the idea is still pretty cool:

Tile is being funded through a Self Starter funding campaign, and has well cleared its goal of $20,000, raising a total of $476,772 with 12 days left to go. You can pre-order Tiles now through the company’s website, with shipping scheduled to begin this winter. If you buy the product before the end of the funding campaign, you’ll pay $18.95 USD for a single tile, otherwise the price will go up to $25 USD each after that.

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