Tracking people (smartphone)?

Not_Me_Officer

My wife & I have smartphones. We'd both like a reliable app where we can see where the other is. If one of us is running really quite late at work or if we'd forgotten the phone at home or whatever. It's just some sort of peace of mind at times.

Preferably a free app.
Not too choosy about if it uses data since we both only use about 1GB on a 2GB plan, so long as it doesn't eat data constantly.

Best/good apps out there that are, and I repeat, reliable?

TadleyBaggie

What type of phones(Android/iPhone etc), without knowing that it's a bit difficult to recommend anything.

Andy_L

google+ will do it

RumRat

Recipe for disaster if you ask me......but, if you insist.....For Android this is an OK one for tracking people...https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.life360.android.safetymapd
With consent, obviously....

djmsemcgrath

Google+ is free, and works, obviously, very easily with Android. You get a Google Maps view, with a little blue person to show where the other person is. It also updates in real-time, so you can actually see the blue person moving. It used to be called Google Latitude but I think it's now just part of the Google+ app. You need a Google account, but most people have one nowadays (Gmail, Youtube, etc).

Just download the Google+ app on both phones, enable location reporting, and invite each other, give permission, and you're away.

We use it to "track" one of our grandmothers who has Alzheimers and likes going for walks then forgetting where she is!

Not_Me_Officer

Thanks.
I should've said - we both have iPhones. I assume the G+ is fine in this case also?

R34GTT

Not_Me_Officer wrote: »

Thanks.
I should've said - we both have iPhones. I assume the G+ is fine in this case also?

There is the 'Find My Friends' app which is preinstalled on iPhones, works pretty well.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201493

While you're looking into this you should also make sure that 'Find My iPhone' is setup properly so that if you lose your phone you can track it.

djmsemcgrath

I assume G+ works on iPhones, but I haven't had firsthand experience of this. Worth a try though, I've found it works very well, and is surprisingly accurate. When I last used it, it told you their last known location (which updates every few seconds if they have signal), and the time it was last updated - so you can see how long they've been without signal for, or how long it's been since their phone ran out of battery etc. That can help you work out how far they might have gone if you're trying to physically locate them.

As another thought, there are apps out there that track your phone in case it's stolen. You could just sign up both of your phones to those services and use them to track. It serves another purpose of helping you find your phone if it's ever stolen!

snae

Google+ supports this, with some users even having it enabled without knowing. You can even download it and view it on Google Earth, and create cool charts and stuff, really quite cool.

Apart from the coolness, however, it's also incredibly scary as it just proves how easier it is for the government as well as individuals, to track you. All the recent stuff in the press about governments being able to do this with smartphones is very old news. A normal user can get apk's freely online (Scripting Layer 4 Android used to be on Google code of all places), which allow you to create scripts and eventually apps which allow the user to complete numerous functions with an unrooted device, including using GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and make calls/ send texts. Imagine what could be done with a rooted device?

They can be taken over very easily...

RumRat

It's not scary at all....................

Kernow666

lots of trust in that relationship