GPS Tracker Application. What would you suggest?

[JaSauders]

So I'm new to the Android community (which is kind of odd given my IT background and Google/Linux interests) but I'm finally on board. I'm finding a ton of great uses for this phone. Some for entertainment, and some for some more serious scenarios.

I tend to mountain bike solo quite a lot. I've had my fair share of falls, and as a result I'm looking for a reasonable GPS tracker application. I've found quite a few, all with pros and cons. I figured I'd highlight them here and see what users thought.

Glympse - Great app. It's by far the best I've used, however it can only be running in a max of 4 hour intervals before the GPS link you send expires. You can re-up it, but that's kind of annoying when I'm on the trail. And yes, I do spend upwards of 7-10 hours on some trails I ride. I would just rather have a "set it and forget it" type of application.

InstaMapper - Nice app, but I've read some mixed reviews about their server reliability. On top of that, the link you send to the end user doesn't show a LIVE updated location of where you're at. The user has to F5 the snot out of their keyboard to see what's up. When I'm on my road bike and training, this is a pain because it doesn't allow the user to see a real time speed. Only the speed from seconds ago while the satellites and their web browser were reloading.

Life360 - Awesome app, but it's very family centric with its layout. It's not a live "tracker" app but moreso a "where's johnny at? *click here*" and bam you can see him app. The nice thing is it has a panic button built in, so if I get in a bind I can hit it and everyone on my family list will get an email and text message with the contents basically saying hey I need help here's the closest address to my GPS location and here's the exact GPS coordinates. Love that feature, and it would be great in a bad situation, but not for wanting to let your parents watch your road trip across the country to come see them or to have somebody watch your position live while you exercise on the bike for better speed. It has its place, though.

Google Latitude - I have mixed feelings about this, and I think it's mostly due to what I read versus what I've experienced. I thought Google Latitude was a real time updated GPS locator? It seems more like it just "checks in" sort of like FourSquare does for Facebook. Like say your buddy is driving across country to come see you. You can see that 3 hours ago he was on I-95, 2 hours ago he was at a truck stop, and 10 minutes ago he was at a Starbucks. Does Google Latitude not do an actual real-time streaming of your location where somebody can be on a computer watching a neat little dot move across their screen? Likewise, I've also read that Google Latitude's reliability is a bit poor, with users citing they've been hours away from where Latitude claims they are. These reviews also seemed to have one thing in common.... they were all dated 2009. But still, figured I'd bring it up. Also, it seems recipients of Google Latitude's invites needs to have a Google Mail account. Is that true? Some family members use Comcast.net and Verizon.net, etc. I can see why they want to promote their products, but realistically speaking, that's a pain in the rear.

So what do you guys think? Does Google Latitude work up to par and easy enough to use? Or should I just use Glympse and hit refresh every so often to bump the timer back up?

Any insight would be great. And any recommendations for other apps would be appreciated as well! Thanks!

 

[JaSauders]

Well I've done some tinkering and came to several conclusions. It entirely depends upon what type of use I need out of the particular GPS scenario. If I'm out somewhere and my buddy is looking for me, Glympse is perfect. Glympse, while I would like to see an unlimited option, is definitely oriented towards quick findings. Glympse would be perfect there as it's a no BS way to lock on to somebody and find them efficiently.

Google Latitude, however, is probably my favorite. After some more testing with GPS on my phone there is zero doubt at just how much it can drain your battery. So much that it's almost a no brainer as to why Glympse would only have limited time scales open anyway. However, there are still times where you might be in your car that unlimited would be useful, but that's another discussion.

The interesting thing about Google Latitude is, actually, just how accurate it is. For example, Google Latitude can act a little strange if I have GPS turned off and it's just doing triangulation on my location when I'm not moving. There are times that it says I was 1.5 miles west of where I truly am. That blue circle is that comes up on the Latitude page is definitely close to where I am, but not quite the winning cigar, as I'm just beyond the outskirts.

Nonetheless, once you're moving, it's surprising how accurate Google Latitude is, even if you're not utilizing GPS. This, in my opinion, is a solid way to get a rough idea as to where somebody is. Couple that with the fact that Latitude DOES support GPS and you have a solid app. There are some minor annoyances with it, however I understand why they exist. For example, let's say I'm on a road trip and allowing somebody to track me through Google Latitude. If I'm doing ANYTHING else on my phone other than letting Latitude run in the foreground, GPS will shut off, and I'll be relying on triangulation. As I said, not a big deal as it's pretty accurate. But it would still be nice to have GPS run when Latitude is in the background, however I do understand they do this as a battery saving tactic. At least you can bounce from GPS to triangulation, and then back on to GPS when you re-open the Latitude app flawlessly.

Note - Please remember to check the checkbox for "use wireless network" under the location setting. This *IS* your triangulation setting. With this disabled, you rely entirely on Latitude's GPS. Guess what? Latitude in the background = no GPS, and therefore no triangulation if you have it disabled. I think this is why Latitude has quite a few bad reviews out there. Not because it doesn't work, but because people don't understand HOW it works to use in conjunction with their phones default settings (my default setting for use wireless networks was disabled).

That said, Glympse is awesome for short bursts of "hey brah come find me!" when you're in an unfamiliar area looking for a friend or something. Google Latitude is more useful for the every day. I know couples who use Google Latitude with each other to figure out whether or not they're running late or if they're on their way home from work, in conjunction to dinner plans or being ready for evening plans, etc.

Anyway, solid apps. They each have their pros and cons which thereby means they are useful for slightly different scenarios.

Enjoy!