# Car tracking device advice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 22, 2019, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899 "2019-04-22T18:09:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899/1 "2019-04-22T18:09:18Z")
My daughter **Littlest R** recently misplaced her car; she had parked a couple blocks from her usual location, and the next morning when her car wasn’t in its accustomed spot, panic ensued. **Mrs. R** is wondering whether there exists some kind of car tracker, where you could call up an app on your phone and get a map of where your car is. Any of you have any experience with that kind of device? **Mrs. R** thinks that something that connected to your car’s battery would be better than a unit which had its own battery. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899/2 "2019-04-22T18:20:57Z")
Lots. > **[Amazon Best Sellers: Best undefined](https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-undefined/zgbs/undefined/5811986011)** > > Discover the best undefined in Best Sellers. Find the top 100 most popular items in Amazon undefined Best Sellers. Most plug into the OBD port. It’s usually under the steering wheel/dash. I have no experience with any of these devices. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899/3 "2019-04-22T18:30:49Z")
Her phone probably keeps track of her location history already. On Android phones, you can open Google Maps and access “Your Timeline”. ---
**Author:** ![Emergency911](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/43a26b/32.png) [@Emergency911](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emergency911)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899/4 "2019-04-22T19:18:34Z")
If it’s a newer car and has OnStar or the other maker’s equivalent, she could subscribe to that. (might even be a Christmas/Birthday present for her). I have an app on my phone that allows me to see where my truck is parked. It does other things as well, but the parked location has come in handy a couple of times when I’m in the city and all the parking garages look the same. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899/5 "2019-04-23T00:01:51Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Her phone probably keeps track of her location history already. On Android phones, you can open Google Maps and access “Your Timeline”. **Littlest R** thought this was very clever! ---
**Author:** ![KMS94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ad7895/32.png) [@KMS94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KMS94)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899/6 "2019-04-23T00:13:12Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Her phone probably keeps track of her location history already. On Android phones, you can open Google Maps and access “Your Timeline”. This is also a good way to remember where you left your phone. Of course, you have to log in to Google Maps from something else, but it will show you where the phone stopped moving. :o ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899/7 "2019-04-23T11:14:30Z")
> [@KMS94](#): > > This is also a good way to remember where you left your phone. > > Of course, you have to log in to Google Maps from something else, but it will show you where the phone stopped moving. :o Google’s [Find My Device](https://www.google.com/android/find) is more optimized for this purpose. It’ll tell you exactly where your Android phone is now, or was last seen. And allow you to play a sound on it, or lock or erase it remotely. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899/8 "2019-04-23T11:46:29Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Google’s [Find My Device](https://www.google.com/android/find) is more optimized for this purpose. It’ll tell you exactly where your Android phone is now, or was last seen. And allow you to play a sound on it, or lock or erase it remotely. I’ve used Apple’s iPhone finder to locate my phone _inside our home_ by playing a tune. My hearing sucks, so I had my gf help me. It was in my bathrobe pocket, hanging in my closet. A friend couldn’t find his car in a huge airport parking lot. Turns out they do a constant census of the lot. He gave his plate number to a guy who then drove him right to his vehicle! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899/9 "2019-04-23T16:00:20Z")
> [@KMS94](#): > > This is also a good way to remember where you left your phone. > > Of course, you have to log in to Google Maps from something else, but it will show you where the phone stopped moving. :o The google map timeline shows all the stops. You can park and wait a \*\*\*few minutes then walk home. Your car is parked at the next to last stop on the timeline. I save my GPS coordinates in large parking lots. Makes it easier to find my car after a football game. \*\*\*I’m not sure how Google recognizes a stop. Google knows the difference stopping for a red light and parking at the grocery store. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899/10 "2019-04-23T16:26:13Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > \*\*\*I’m not sure how Google recognizes a stop. Google knows the difference stopping for a red light and parking at the grocery store. Your phone collects and astonishing amount of data which Google can work with. I don’t know how Google does it either but: - The phone’s accelerometer data can likely indicate the difference between accelerating/decelerating in a car versus getting out of the car and walking away. Google could flag the location at those changes in mode of transportation as a parking spot. - Google has mapped where the traffic lights and stop signs are in cities so it can tell whether a traffic stop is at a light/sign or somewhere else. - If you used Google maps to navigate, it can guess that your parking spot is somewhere near your destination and look for the most likely place on your timeline that equaled “parked here.” - Google has data from millions of other drivers so if your car is the only one stopping, Google knows you are parked rather stuck in traffic. - Google has map data showing where the parking lots are. If a car stops in one, safe bet is that it’s parked. - Front-facing cameras are constantly looking around. Google might be able to infer from its data whether the phone was inside a car and is now outside, indicating that the car has parked (although this seems like an unlikely way to do it). - If the phone is paired with the car’s bluetooth, the phone will definitely know when they have disconnected, which implies parking spot. - The way people interact with their phone might differ in discernable ways when they are driving versus when they are walking. Google might pick up on that to flag driving versus walking. These methods use a bunch of different phone sensors (GPS, wifi, bluetooth, camera, accelerometer, and touch screen). I’ll bet a good engineer could figure out how to use this data to devise a dozen other ways to determine when a phone left a parked car. One of those might even be the way Google actually does it. ---
**Author:** ![zuer-coli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ba9def/32.png) [@zuer-coli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuer-coli)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899/11 "2019-04-24T03:32:06Z")
All, I just now typed “Find my car.” and found 28 Android apps that show up under that search string. Respectfully yours, Zuer-coli ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899/12 "2019-04-24T11:16:03Z")
The first time I was made aware of Google’s ability to remember where I’d parked, I owned a Samsung Galaxy phone. We drove to Pittsburgh’s SouthSide to attend a concert at the Rex Theater. It took a while, but I found a parking spot on a fairly distant side street. We hurried to the Rex and had a wonderful evening. After the show, we began walking in the general direction where I thought the car might be. Neither of us knew exactly where I’d parked. We were getting nervous, then my phone chimed. Google wanted to know if I needed help finding my car. Hell ya, Google!! My phone led my right to it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899/13 "2019-04-24T12:44:04Z")
> [@zuer-coli](#): > > I just now typed “Find my car.” and found 28 Android apps that show up under that search string. Of which at least 25 are probably malware. Finding a benign app is a far from easy task. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899/14 "2019-04-24T13:21:39Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Of which at least 25 are probably malware. Define malware. I have come to expect free apps that are useful to contain ads. If the app works well, but pushes ads, I’ll happily pay a few bucks to get rid of the ads. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899/15 "2019-04-24T17:08:15Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Her phone probably keeps track of her location history already. On Android phones, you can open Google Maps and access “Your Timeline”. I just tried it now and it put me in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with “no history found” for yesterday. Annoyed, I dug a little deeper and found you have to read some warnings then activate it first. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899/16 "2019-04-24T17:23:09Z")
Timeline works best when GPS is enabled (which is a bit of a battery drain), otherwise the locations can be somewhat approximate. Accessing Google Maps briefly when you park should be enough to ensure a good location fix. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-tracking-device-advice/832899/17 "2019-04-24T17:26:22Z")
If you have Google Assistant, you can also tell it “OK Google, I parked here.” Then later you can ask “OK google, where did I park?”