I was reminded that back in the 2010s N900 era we had cheap Bluetooth help-find tags that I think were usable with the N900 it gave a signal strength and could get the tag to emit a tone. Now I mostly see Apple airtags which use the whole Apple user base as a sensor network. Being built around a CR2303 lithium cell is a bit big for most things smaller than a keyring. What is the current state of things or are we still at pretty much the same place, is there any security improvements which require an encrypted ping to get the tag to beacon the pong? Privacy, security, lifetime, range, linux compatible; what is the current state of bluetooth low energy tagging. I see some industrial tags are thick stickers, ideal would be a 6x15mm cylinder with an antenna sticking out for things around the home like glasses etc.
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With a little searching they still have the very same pastel colored teardrop shaped CR2303 tags from 15 years ago, some wristwatch shaped people finder tags(retirement or memory care homes?), a reasonable selection of dev boards and BYO electricity which for fixed installs in the field gives me ideas of solar powered tags. What have you all seen around?