Android phones can now tell you if there’s an AirTag following you

I would assume so. It's a difficult thing, because I'm really not okay with people covertly tracking others with airtags without their consent, but the it can of course also be used to track stolen items or so.

Yeah, they aren't really useful for anti theft, but that's the compromise you have to make for safety

Yes, but that already used to happen before if the thieve had an iPhone.

Yes it will, after some amount of time.

I think the solution to this problem is embedding the tag into the frame in such a way that removing it would be destructive or at least highly impractical. That's my plan at least. Waiting for my Chipolo trackers to arrive.

They're not anti theft devices. Never were. They are anti losing my shit devices.

Slap one on your keys, wallet, etc, and when you lose them, you can track them to see where they ended up falling out of your pocket.

If you want a tracking device, pay for one. They'll use a SIM card, be undetectable, and track perfectly without needing a network of phones.