A location tracker that tells you how fresh the dot is.
Every position on the map carries the time it was reported. That one habit is what separates a map you can act on from a map that merely looks alive.
Start trackingWhat real time means in this location tracker
It means the app reports while it is open and in the background, and the card tells you how long ago that was. It does not mean a continuous stream — no phone could carry that for a day. When you read At Lincoln High, four minutes ago, both halves of that sentence are doing work, and the second half is the one most apps leave out.
- Positions arrive at intervals, more often while someone is moving
- Every card shows the age of the reading, never a bare dot
- A stationary phone reports less, which is why an old reading is not a fault
- Accuracy comes from the phone; indoors and downtown it is looser, and the map shows that
A live location tracker still has to answer for the battery
Background location costs power on every platform, and any real time location tracker that claims otherwise is not describing the same thing you will experience. This one reports at intervals rather than continuously, and when somebody in the circle drops low, everyone gets a low battery alert — usually before the dot stops moving and the worrying starts.
What the map does when it does not know
This is where a gps location tracker app earns trust or loses it. A phone that is off, out of signal, or has permission switched off produces no position, and the honest answer is to say so. You will see No location yet, or Paused sharing, or the time of the last reading. You will never see a dot nudged towards somewhere plausible.
A location tracker app for family, not for one person in it
Everyone in the circle sees the same map, your own row included, with a switch beside your name. Turn it off and you leave the map — the others see a Paused sharing label, not a stale guess. Turn it back on and you reappear within a minute. Whoever set up the circle has no extra view of anyone, however they added people — by phone number or any other way.
On iphone, on Android, and in a browser
An iphone location tracker and an Android one have to behave the same or the family ends up comparing screens. The circle looks the same on both. A location tracker for iphone needs the app installed for background updates, and so does Android — the phone tracker page goes platform by platform; the browser version keeps up while the tab stays open, which is enough for the relative who will not install anything.
History, and the end of it
The day is kept as a summary of stays and trips rather than a line drawn across the city. It belongs to the person it is about, and after 30 days it is deleted automatically — by a scheduled job, not by a request someone has to remember to make.
Questions about accuracy and updates
How often does the map update?
At intervals, more often while a phone is moving and less often while it sits still. Every card carries the age of its reading so you are never guessing how current it is.
How accurate is the position?
As accurate as the phone reports, which is good outdoors and looser indoors or among tall buildings. When accuracy is poor the map shows a place name or a distance from one rather than pretending to a street corner.
What happens if someone turns off location permission?
They stop appearing, and the circle sees that they are not reporting. Nothing is estimated in the meantime.
Can I stop sharing without leaving the circle?
Yes. Pause sharing and you stay in the circle with a Paused sharing label. Turn it back on whenever you like.
Does everyone see the same thing I do?
Yes, including you on it. There is no view that shows one person more than the others.