Best apps for GPS tracking [family & friends etc]

[patent10021]

I'm in Japan, family is in Canada. Are there any cools apps that we can use to visually track each other around the world? It would be fun if for example my Mum could see me moving live via Macbook or iPhone.

I was thinking Google Latitude for the iPhone combined with the Apple Maps app although I'm not sure if I can set up an iPhone account with Google Latitude from Japan.

 

[Hawkeye411]

If you take a photo with your iPhone and post it online using mobile me, it shows the location you were at on google map when you took the picture. It's not live but it would give her an idea. You can set up a free 60 day trial of mobile me.

 

[patent10021]

Yeah thanks but I'm talking live GPS tracking.

Google Latitude is good but it's not an app it's a web app.

So far Glympse is the best solution and people are digging it a lot. Live turn by turn tracking with travel speed as well for spying on your kids to see if they're driving to fast lol

http://www.glympse.com/

 

[carbonfly]

Family Tracker is a great app. My family has it and this way at any moment we can get a location on each other. That way if anything goes wrong we can still locate them.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/family-tracker/id349880412?mt=8

 

[khanriazaoif]

Family Tracker is a great app. My family has it and this way at any moment we can get a location on each other. That way if anything goes wrong we can still locate them.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/family-tracker/id349880412?mt=8

I have that app and love it but it killed my battery

 

[carbonfly]

I have that app and love it but it killed my battery

Really? I haven't noticed any increased battery drain since using it. But I also have an iPhone 4. If you have a 3GS, the limited battery will probably be a problem. I can make 2 days on a single charge with regular phone use.

 

[khanriazaoif]

Really? I haven't noticed any increased battery drain since using it. But I also have an iPhone 4. If you have a 3GS, the limited battery will probably be a problem. I can make 2 days on a single charge with regular phone use.

Both my wife and I have iPhone 4 and both drained within hours with that app. That's unfortunate it works with yours and neither of ours bc I really wanted the app to work bc we have a new born baby.

 

[carbonfly]

Both my wife and I have iPhone 4 and both drained within hours with that app. That's unfortunate it works with yours and neither of ours bc I really wanted the app to work bc we have a new born baby.

How often do you have the app set to update your location? I have it set to the most battery saving level. If I ever need to know where my wife is I can just ping her location and it will show me.

 

[khanriazaoif]

How often do you have the app set to update your location? I have it set to the most battery saving level. If I ever need to know where my wife is I can just ping her location and it will show me.

I dd the exact same things. Any other suggestions.

 

[Mitchelino]

Check out TrackMyPhone. There is a forum topic (by the developer) on MacRumors here. It's by far the best tracking app I've found. It's designed for iOS 4. It runs 100% in the background, even after the app is closed and removed from the "multitask dock".

It updates your location when it noticed you've switched cell-towers (iOS 4 feature), and then monitors via GPA (this method saves massive battery life if you are just at home, or staying in one spot).

I've noticed no significant battery drain, yet it still monitors my location. You can monitor the person from their phone, your phone (if you have the app and their account info) and from any computer. It's very neat.

 

[k8sqi]

I dd the exact same things. Any other suggestions.

We're the developers of Family Tracker, just saw this thread, and would like explain a bit more in detail Family Tracker's GPS settings. We have 3 settings of operation for the background GPS tracking. In "Driving Only" mode we are actually not powering on the GPS, as the location is being retrieved via the cell towers. The location is updated only when there is a cell tower change (usually while driving). If you do not need super precise locations, we strongly recommend using this setting as it allows for huge battery savings, as the power used by Family Tracker is practically insignificant. As an example, beginning a 3-hour drive starting with the iPhone fully charged results in still having a 97% charge left after those 3 hours.

The "Always On" settings instead do keep the GPS radio in the device on at all times. This results in a better GPS accuracy, but will also result in a lower battery life (the charge won't likely won't last an entire day). With both the "Always On 1Km" and the 'Always On 100m" settings, Family Tracker will continue to update it's position even if the phone is stationary in one position (in 5 minute intervals). This will allow you to know that Family Tracker is still running on the phone and that the position being marked on the map is fresh and accurate. This is not possible to do in "Driving Only" mode.

Going back to the "Driving Only" mode, recently a new update (Family Tracker v2.1) became available in the App Store. With this update, when using "Driving Only" mode, we are briefly firing up the GPS for 20 seconds every time we detect the phone has stopped moving. This allows us to obtain a rather accurate position (often within 10-100 meters) as soon as the phone is still, while at the same time continue to maintain a very, very low battery consumption.

Finally please note that, when running in the foreground (i.e. left visible on the screen), Family Tracker runs the GPS in max-accuracy mode. This allows for real-time tracking if the phone is left on a car-charger for example (otherwise the battery drain will be very large). Do note that as soon as it's sent to the background, the above described GPS modes apply.

I hope this helps.

Roberto Franceschetti
LogSat Software

 

[kmcrawford]

Family Tracker is a great app. My family has it and this way at any moment we can get a location on each other. That way if anything goes wrong we can still locate them.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/family-tracker/id349880412?mt=8

I found Bread Krumb. It's free and does similar tracking with zone notifications.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bread-krumb-gps-tracker/id377330618?mt=8

 

[khanriazaoif]

I actully got family tracker working and it's the best out of all of those which I also purchased.

 

[burnside]

We're the developers of Family Tracker, just saw this thread, and would like explain a bit more in detail Family Tracker's GPS settings. We have 3 settings of operation for the background GPS tracking. In "Driving Only" mode we are actually not powering on the GPS, as the location is being retrieved via the cell towers. The location is updated only when there is a cell tower change (usually while driving). If you do not need super precise locations, we strongly recommend using this setting as it allows for huge battery savings, as the power used by Family Tracker is practically insignificant. As an example, beginning a 3-hour drive starting with the iPhone fully charged results in still having a 97% charge left after those 3 hours.

The "Always On" settings instead do keep the GPS radio in the device on at all times. This results in a better GPS accuracy, but will also result in a lower battery life (the charge won't likely won't last an entire day). With both the "Always On 1Km" and the 'Always On 100m" settings, Family Tracker will continue to update it's position even if the phone is stationary in one position (in 5 minute intervals). This will allow you to know that Family Tracker is still running on the phone and that the position being marked on the map is fresh and accurate. This is not possible to do in "Driving Only" mode.

Going back to the "Driving Only" mode, recently a new update (Family Tracker v2.1) became available in the App Store. With this update, when using "Driving Only" mode, we are briefly firing up the GPS for 20 seconds every time we detect the phone has stopped moving. This allows us to obtain a rather accurate position (often within 10-100 meters) as soon as the phone is still, while at the same time continue to maintain a very, very low battery consumption.

Finally please note that, when running in the foreground (i.e. left visible on the screen), Family Tracker runs the GPS in max-accuracy mode. This allows for real-time tracking if the phone is left on a car-charger for example (otherwise the battery drain will be very large). Do note that as soon as it's sent to the background, the above described GPS modes apply.

I hope this helps.

Roberto Franceschetti
LogSat Software

I was just thinking that to save on battery drain, why not only transmit a location when someone asks for it? If no one is asking for the location, just leave it off.

 

[gosdev]

Simple family and friend finder app

Hey guys,

You can use the Me Here Where You app http://www.meherewhereyou.com/app for both iPhone and Android to easily help you find and navigate your way to your family and friends. The app is free and easy to use.

Hope you find it useful