I’m looking for a good GPS tracking app for my Samsung Galaxy S3. I’ve been going on long bicycle rides and my husband would like to be able to track my location just in case of an emergency. I need something that won’t be a battery hog - I’m often out for 5+ hours at a time, and obviously need to be able to call if something goes wrong!
Any recommendations? Accuracy and battery life are most important. Free is obviously good, but I’m willing to pay for a good one.
There may be better apps, but if you want it for free and made by Google/Android, you might try the app called My Tracks. Came pre-installed on my Google-branded phone, but I’ve never used it. If you have needs that My Tracks doesn’t fulfill, you might also check out Endomondo.
Google Latitude works very well, I’ve watched my friends progress down highways 2 states away or approach my house on local roads in almost real time. Latitude is part of the Google Maps application. Add your wife as a Latitude friend and you’ll see her location on the map.
Latitude has been discontinued.
Really? That’s too bad. It is still on my Maps app on Android 2.3.
Yep. The next update you allow to Maps will remove Latitude. After the update, when you go into settings, you’ll see a new item at the bottom of the list: Where’s Latitude. When you select it, you will be brought to a browser page with the following message:
Life 360
I have it on my Galaxy S4. It’s free and seems to be quite accurate, in addition to to having a tracking history if you want to use that as well. It claims to minimize impact on battery and I haven’t really noticed it hurting mine.
I just thought of something. If none of the apps mentioned work/appeal to you (too complicated?) for the simple function you need it to do, Google is going to release a brand new app very soon (already?) called Android Device Manager. It’s main purpose is to find/track/remotely-wipe a misplaced/lost/stolen phone, and it’s pretty much going to be a must-have app for those purposes.
If it’s currently/soon available for your phone, there’s a good chance that it might be all you need if you don’t want any frills. Just as long as your husband has your Google account login/password, he could just use the “track” function which will display the phone’s location on a map. Just make sure he knows enough not to remotely wipe it!! :eek: (Though I’m sure there are multiple confirmations before it lets you do that.)
Well I tried the free version of Endomondo last night. It was very accurate, but used 20% of my battery in 2 hours. I see where the paid version has a battery conservation option - does anyone know if this improves battery life substantially?
It can improve battery life substantially, and the official line from Endomondo is “GPS accuracy is the same regardless if the feature ‘Low Power Mode’ is enabled or disabled, but the data is uploaded a lot less often…”
But based on the user comments at that link above, YMMV. And for your purposes, less frequent uploading of data would mean your husband would have less precise/up-to-date tracking of your location.
If you really want to go nuts, there’s the Spot Satellite Messenger which lets people see your location, does check ins and lets you send emergency messages even when you’re not in cell coverage. Battery life is up to 3 months if you’re not actively sending messages. But the devices start at $99 and you need a $150 a year subscription.
I use MapyMyRun+ (it was 99 cents, but they have a free version) for my runs. They make a similar app called MapMyRide for biking, and there is (I beleive) a Live Tracking option which will allow “Friends” from the MapMyFitness site (mapymyrun.com, mapmyride.com, etc) to track your location on the site.
I am not sure about impact to the battery.