Family & Friend Locator Apps/Services

[Rincewind]

I'm looking for a good cross-platform (iOS & Android) family & friends locator app or service.  Up till now we used Sprint's family locator service.  This service is accessible via website, which I found to be a good feature, but the interface is not great and we are ending Sprint service today for Virgin Mobile.  Virgin may have spaceships, but they do not have family locator services.  BTW, my device will remain on AT&T.

I still use Apple's FindMyFriends for a few family members.  This is a very nice app, imo, but only works with iOS and the majority of my family's devices are Android.  

So we are looking for another option.  My first try-out has been Life360.  Life360 lists the locations of family members, nearby hospitals/police, and also the location and ID of sex offenders - this is kind of creepy, but probably good info.  I also like that it is accessible via website, and it's nice that it's free.  I'm a bit concerned that my iPhone & iPad are now constantly running locator services (the arrow at the top) which will likely negatively impact battery life.  

Does anyone have other recommended apps or services to try, paid or otherwise?  Thanks.

[AutoXer]

A couple of concerns to me:

1.  As you mentioned, battery life when using locator services.  I can watch the percentage of power remaining drop steadily when using this with a couple of locator/tracking apps I've tried.  Phone needs to be running off of the vehicles power to be practical, in my opinion.

2.  Important to know if the service works when there is no cell coverage - if not, it's not adequate in my opinion.

[Rincewind]

Thanks for the comments.  I ended up turning off locator services for the Life360 app because of the battery issues.  I will continue trying to find an alternative.

The second concern is not as consequential to me because the use will be predominantly in cell service areas.  I am not looking for a replacement to the satellite-based Spot trackers.

[cyjo]

You can also try google latitude. It will require a gmail account for those of you that use an iphone. Your family with android will already have it or they won't be able to download apps. You will download the app and send invites to track family members and they will have to submit to you tracking them and vice versa. My wife with her iphone doesn't update her position as often as my sister with her android but it works well enough and there is no noticeable impact on battery life with it.

[Rincewind]

Thanks, I didn't know that Google Latitude had that feature.  I will look into that.  

I did find a way to turn off the constant tracking with Life360, saving battery life, but then you have to send check-in requests to get locations.

I asked my wife (Android user) to look into it and she found NQ Family Guardian.  This is an Android app & web-based service that does tracking along with a wide host of parental oversight features.  It's a paid service, but the services offered are pretty advanced.  It won't work with iPhones, but as the only iPhone user in the immediate family, I can access the info via the web.

[HipGnosis]

You can also try google latitude. It will require a gmail account for those of you that use an iphone. Your family with android will already have it or they won't be able to download apps. You will download the app and send invites to track family members and they will have to submit to you tracking them and vice versa. My wife with her iphone doesn't update her position as often as my sister with her android but it works well enough and there is no noticeable impact on battery life with it.

Is it a user setting that controls how often it updates or a phone thing?
Once you 'submit' to being tracked, can you turn it off and back on?

[cyjo]

Is it a user setting that controls how often it updates or a phone thing?
Once you 'submit' to being tracked, can you turn it off and back on?

Yes in fact you can manually set your location as well. My father tracks me and I sometimes get the call about why I'm at work so early or so late. So I set my location to Botswana. It's done on a approval basis. You have to allow to be tracked by a certain person. It is not universal.

[Cablebandit]

You could just call and say "where are you?".  

[Rincewind]

You could just call and say "where are you?".   

I wish it were so simple. 

[Burners]

Pardon my ignorance and nascent privacy paranoia, but what is the practical purpose of these apps? I get that some people use them for social aspects, and I can see wanting to track your children, but what else?  

I don't want to be too judgmental without a better understanding...then I'll revert to type.  

[bluepoof]

Pardon my ignorance and nascent privacy paranoia, but what is the practical purpose of these apps? I get that some people use them for social aspects, and I can see wanting to track your children, but what else?  

I used the "temporary event" feature of Find My Friends a bunch last weekend -- we had 6 families spending the weekend together at Lake Tahoe.  With FMF, it was easy to see who was at the lodge vs on the hill vs in the hotel.  No matter where the baby and I were, I could see who was nearby and shoot them a text to meet up.    The event ended at 6:30pm on Monday (set up by one of our group); no need to remember to turn off FMF or remove people or whatever.  
 
I also use it in general to stalk my husband, who has no sense of time whatsoever and will call and tell me he's 20 minutes away even if it's closer to an hour.  With the map, I can see where he is and figure out when he'll really be home.  No more cold dinners!

[Papa Lazarou]

I knew it had a stalking application.  

[Wiz]

My family uses Life 360. If you don't run gps 24/7 you won't even notice any battery drain.