air tags function by utilizing the ad-hoc network all Apple devices create - if you run an Apple device, you’re involuntarily part of this P2P network, even when your device is supposedly off. otherwise, said tags wouldn’t be able to send you status reports from the other side of the planet. that’s just how they and find-my-shit apps work, there are no alternatives to global availability.
all that’s kinda antithetical to the whole privacy thing, so you’ll have to balance the good with the bad and determine how much spyware you will tolerate to gain this sort of convenience.
I’m trying to utilize a couple of core 2 duo macbooks for the same purpose and it’s not going great. I have twice the cores and RAM but they’re stuck at 800 MHz, because of no batteries.
anyhow, very slow and issues with a lot of codecs I throw at them. try mpv without a DE/WM.