Do you want to make sure your family is safe? Do you want to know your family's location at all times? Then you need a Family Locator app for your phones.
Here are some of the most popular Family Locator apps for phones.
Find My Friends app
Family Locator apps provide private location sharing within
your family. With the app installed on each phone, you can keep track of your
family’s location at all times.
How Do Family Locator Apps Work?
A Family Locator app uses the phone’s GPS to track the
phone’s location.
(GPS has to be On,
location-sharing has to be On)
Or, if the GPS is Off or for phones without GPS, the app
uses data from the nearest cell-tower to locate the phone.
(phone has to be On)
For the app to locate a family member, they should have the
phone with them at all times, the phone should be On, have a good cell signal
and (for phones with GPS), location-sharing should be On. A good GPS signal –
available outdoors and in most places - is needed for gps-location to work.
Family Locator App Features
Family Locator apps include some or all of the following
features. With the app you can
- See the location of each family member on a map at all times.
- Set
location-based alerts. For example, get an alert when your child reaches
home or get an alert when your teenager does not reach school by a
specific time (perhaps they decided to become Ferris
Bueller for the day)
The app enables setting up geo-fences around locations and setting corresponding alerts – positive-location or negative-location. - Checkin at a location
- Chat within the group.
Some apps also provide additional feature to monitor kids –
e.g. to alert you if the teenager is speeding in their own car or their friends
car – functions somewhat similar to the ProgressiveSnapshot.
With that introduction, here is a list of the most popular
family locator apps.
Find My
Friends by Apple – iOS
- Free app.
- All devices used have to be Apple iOS devices – iPhone, iPad, iPod – running iOS 5 or later.
- Unique feature - you can share location with others for a set time, which is a great convenience while sharing your location with friends.
Family
Locator + - Android
- Free App
MamaBear – iOS,
Android
- Free App
- MamaBear goes beyond being just a family locator app. It takes up the task of protecting the kids. It can also - monitor kids Facebook activities, monitor kids Instagram activities, find out how fast your teenager is driving etc
- With MamaBear, you can receive alerts when your kid is not at school during a specified time, is not at a location during a specified time, visits places that are off-limits, leaves a drop-off location etc.
Life360 – iOS, Android
- Free for phones with GPS
- $5/month – to locate a phone with no-GPS
- Life360 also provides group messaging within the family
- Life360 wants to further protect your family by mapping sex offenders nearby, providing you with free credit reports etc. If you feel the need for such features from a Family Locator app, then Life360 may be the right choice.
Moby
Family Locator – iOS, Android, Blackberry
- Free App
- Family members can checkin from a location and when needed, send a “help-please” message
The apps mentioned above are free (with some paid premium
features).
In addition, your wireless phone provider will have a Family
Locator service for you – for a fee. Family locator apps are one of the biggest
revenue generators (for an app) for wireless carriers.
Family Locator services are available from each of the
wireless providers.
Verizon
Family Locator – Android, Web App
- $10/month
Safely
by Location Labs is the largest provider of Family Locator services that are
sold by multiple wireless providers under their brand.
Safely works for gps-phones and no-gps phones. It can track
location and setup location-based alerts. Safely’s Drive Safe app
can block a teenagers phone while driving etc.
Safely enabled Family Locator services include
AT&T
FamilyMap – any AT&T phone
- $10/month for 2 phones
- No support for iPhone 5 yet
Sprint Family
Locator – any Sprint phone
- $5/month for 4 phones
T-Mobile
FamilyWhere – any T-Mobile phone
- $10/month for FamilyWhere Locate
- Free checkins from locations.
If you are using a Locator app – such as BizzMo
Partner Locator - to track your boyfriend, track your girlfriend or track
your wife, husband or track your kids – remember you need to get the ok of the
person being so tracked. It is never a good idea to track someone without his
or her knowledge.
Is there a Windows Phone 8 Family Locator service?
Windows
Phone 8 just got announced. The wireless carrier Family Locator services
can be used with Windows Phone 8 also. Over time expect more Family Locator
apps to be available for these phones.
What about Google Latitude?
Google Latitude
can also be used for private location sharing - to track location of family,
friends on a map.
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