10 Best Location Tracking Apps (Reviewed)

The top best location tracking apps: A person searches the network for an application – a GPS tracker to track the phone. Who does this? Intruder, crook, private detective? In fact, 99% of location requests are related to caring for loved ones.

The son is already an adult but does not show up at home for the third day in a row, and the daughter does not return from school or university. They do not pick up the phone – then any mother will get worried, she will start to put on her ears the police and the Ministry of Emergencies. The dad of the unlucky offspring will try to determine the phone’s location. And it will type “Best Location Tracking Apps” in the search bar.

The Best Location Tracking Apps for Android & iPhone

The Where Are My Kids application allows you to track your phone’s location and listen to the sound around it. Download from Appstore or Google Play.

Let’s make a reservation right away that determining a person’s location without his knowledge is illegal. Therefore, we sweep aside fraudulent links and videos that promise to find out by the phone number where the person is. We read the review and understand.

Types of location tracking app

Let’s conditionally divide applications into types:

Parental control.
Family control.
Phone search.

Let’s see what’s on offer in each category.

1. Parental Control

A Location Tracking Apps with wide functionality is installed on the parent’s smartphone. For a child’s smartphone – the application is simpler. Then the child’s smartphone is added to the parent application and starts working as the best phone tracker app without permission.

The application allows you to connect both children’s smartphones and GPS watches. All other things being equal, a more general-purpose solution is always better. For example, the family has children 12 and 6 years old. The elder has a smartphone, and the younger has a watch. Do you really need to install two applications?

So, we will evaluate both functionality and versatility in parental control applications.

1. 1. Find My Kids: Location Tracker

An application from a great developer, excellently localized for the US and European markets. There are free and paid versions.

Supports both the phone and the GPS clock – put a plus. Multiple children can be added. The editorial board notes a pleasant and very clear interface.

Let’s figure out the functionality:

Tracking on the map – yes.
LBS support – yes.
Geofences – yes.
Messaging, including voice messaging – yes.
Find and turn off the watch remotely – yes.
Sound around the device – yes.
Rewards and awards – yes.
Multiple parents, yes.

In addition, the application can send a loud signal to the child’s smartphone. It sounds regardless of the settings – whether the phone is muted or not, the signal will sound. LBS is an additional positioning system based on signals from Wi-Fi points and other indirect determinants; it also supports triangulation using base stations of a cellular operator – determining the approximate location of a phone based on a signal from three towers.

The watch can be connected easily and simply, controlled entirely from the application. Connecting a child’s smartphone requires installing a small “Chat with Parents” application on it. Then the registration of the smartphone in the parent’s application takes place in three steps.

In addition to tracking movements, the application allows you to see application statistics – it is convenient to see if the child has played in the lessons, what he generally installs on the phone.

The editors note the presence of the Russian-language site of the application and excellent support – the chat is available both from the phone and from the site. The parent’s web office, which is currently in beta testing, is certainly a handy find that other applications are sorely lacking.

1.2. SE Tracker

Recommended as a native to half of the inexpensive children’s smartwatches. Shareware – advertisements are shown to the user. You can turn off intrusive lines for money. Apparently developed in China.

Basically, it supports all the functions of a kids GPS tracker:

Tracking on the map – yes.
LBS support – yes.
Geofences – yes.
Messaging, incl. Voice – yes.
Find and turn off the watch remotely – yes
Sound around the device – no.
Rewards and awards – yes.
Multiple parents don’t.

Application main screen, map with a real-time stamp. A limited list of watches can be connected to the application. In theory, you can now add multiple smart devices to your account. However, problems often arise when adding second and third ones, judging by the support requests.

You cannot connect a child’s smartphone to the application. The extended functionality of the application is available in the paid version. There is paid technical support – $ 10.

1.3. Family GPS tracker MaPaMap

A conditionally free application – there is advertising, disconnection for money, the inclusion of some functions is also paid. Advertising is shown at the bottom of the screen all the time; sometimes, it pops up to full screen when switching modes.

Country of origin – Poland. The app supports both watches and smartphones. We put a plus.

Let’s go over our checklist:

Tracking on the map – yes.
LBS support – yes.
Geofences – yes.
Messaging, incl. Voice – yes.
Find and turn off the watch remotely – yes.
Sound around the device – yes.
Rewards and rewards are not.
Multiple parents, yes.

It was not possible to determine the availability of technical support without purchasing an application.

The program itself has a “Diagnostics” mode of four points. In the free version, I managed to click on the items Internet, Location, and Wi-Fi – these buttons open the standard settings of the phone. It was not possible to click on the MaPaMap server item.

1.4. My Kids Safety – Family Tracker

Paid app with a free 3-day trial. The developer is registered in Cyprus. Immediately asks for bank card details for payment – put a minus. It supports only phones, and there is no data on clock support – put a bold minus.

Let’s get our checklist and put down the marks:

Tracking on the map – yes.
LBS support is not.
Geofences – yes.
Messaging, including voice messaging – no.
Finding and turning off the watch remotely – no.
Sound around the device – no.
Rewards and rewards are not.
Multiple parents, yes.

It is unlikely that this application can be considered seriously as a tracker for a child. If it were not for such a pretentious name, the editors would have placed the application in the “Family Control” section, where it could have taken a higher place in the ranking.

It was not possible to find data on any support for the application, even in English.

Verdict: What is the best parental control app?

The editors considered only applications originally developed to control the movement of children. Therefore, it did not include the products of antivirus giants such as McAffee or Kasperky Lab – their functions are more focused on working with smartphone applications – launching prohibitions, installation prohibitions, etc.

At the moment, the leader of the rating with a score of 5/5 is deservedly becoming the application “Where are my children” with its paired “Chat with parents.” See where your child is right now and listen to the sound around his phone. The app is available in AppStore and GooglePlay.

2. Family control

To not ask unnecessary questions to parents, brothers, and sisters, adult children with whom you live friendly, you can install a real-time family GPS tracker. Of course, such an application cannot be installed without the person’s knowledge. Therefore, inclusion in the family qualifier is voluntary. Whether a person joins a GPS tracker or not is a certain “check for lice.” Will each family member be able to inform others about their itineraries voluntarily? The question is philosophical.

Let’s take a look at the best family monitoring apps. Let’s compose a checklist by which we will evaluate the compliance of the application with the level of expectations:

Tracking the location of everyone by GPS in real-time.
Checking the battery charge.
Family chat.
SOS or panic function.
Geofences.
Phone search.

The last point is optional, but it can be useful for caring for elderly relatives. If your 90-year-old grandmother suddenly went beyond the convenience store, this is an excuse to call her and offer help. Children can also be connected to family control, but it is still better to use a specialized application.

The child control application can be used as a family one. But the opposite is unlikely. Let’s take a look at the best family control apps.

2. 1. Life360: Family Locator & GPS Tracker for Safety

A solid product of American programmers. For the United States, in general, it is suitable. There is a free version and three levels of tariff plans. Two of them are for the USA only, and the third is for worldwide use. Moreover, the price is unknown.

The main function of the application is to take care of inexperienced drivers. Bella Swan turned 16; she received a driver’s license, an old pickup truck, and a parental blessing and began to drive to school independently. So that the sheriff’s dad does not worry, he can ask his daughter to install an application on her smartphone. And he will know if anything happens to her along the way. At the same time, she will be able to intercept the pickup truck in time if her daughter decides to rush to Las Vegas.

Let’s move away from the lyrics and return to the functionality. We check the checklist:

Real-time Best Location Tracking Apps of everyone’s location – yes.
Battery charge checks – yes.
Family chat – yes.
SOS or panic function – yes.
Geofences – no.
Phone search – yes.

Additional features – family chat is made in the form of circles. You can invite any user of the application to the circle, thus organizing several different chats. The user chooses whether to show him the location, driving statistics, etc., for each lap.

Additional function – the user can inform the circle ETA – Estimated Time of Arrival or estimated time of arrival. Convenient for coordinating joint events and just family life.

No supporting data is available.

2.2. Family Locator – GPS Tracker & Find Your Phone App

Application form Slovak developers of products for GPS navigation Sygic. The app is classified in the Travel category on Google Play, so users often miss it. In fact, it has quite advanced functionality and a nice interface. There are paid features, but the free ones cover most family control requests.

Let’s go over the checklist:

Best Location Tracking Apps of everyone’s location – yes.
Battery check – no.
Family chat – yes.
SOS or panic function – yes.
Geofences – yes.
Phone search – yes.

Among the additional chips, augmented reality technology is announced.

Overall, a very nice, functional application. If it had the support of a GPS clock, it would be a worthy competitor to the application “Where are my children” from the previous section. And so – a very worthy family tracker.

2.3. Zoemob Family Locator

The app is from ZoeMob, a Brazilian developer headquartered in São Paulo. The interface is common for applications of this class. There are no special features. There is a strange overspeeding warning.

Perhaps it will be useful for assessing recklessness on a bike or skateboard rather than speeding a child in a car, as the description says. Another useful mode is the family calendar, and it is convenient to plan joint activities.

Let’s check the checklist:

Real-time GPS tracking of everyone’s location – yes.
Battery charge checks – yes.
Family chat – yes.
SOS or panic function – yes.
Geofences – yes.
Phone search – yes.

Quite a common application with a low rating on Google Play. The site of the application does not give information about the functionality of the paid and free versions, and the application contains ads. Technical support by e-mail is declared.

2.4. Family GPS Tracker & Parental Control

A largely standard application from the Spanish company Tuso Technologies SL Not localized, the primary language is English.

Of the chips – parental control of a child’s smartphone use, remote data reset on a stolen phone. The rest is a regular GPS tracker, only for phones. GPS watches are out of the question.

It looks like the app is designed to restrict a child’s online activities rather than take care of him in a difficult situation.

Nevertheless, the checklist is almost completely fulfilled:

Real-time GPS tracking of everyone’s location – yes.
Battery check – no.
Family chat – yes.
SOS or panic function – yes.
Geofences – yes.
Phone search – yes.

The low rating and an abundance of complaints from users on Google Play only confirm the editorial impression.

Verdict: What is the Best family control app

Unlike parental control, the first place in the family control rating goes to Slovak developers. Their Family Locator app is handy, efficient, and easy to use. And the free functionality is enough for most tasks. Dialing 5/5 was prevented only by vague information about user support.

3. Phone search

Phone finder apps are simpler than the ones discussed above. Their task is to show the last known location of the phone or to provide continuous monitoring of its location.

Google and Apple have standard capabilities to search and find devices. The success of these searches depends on whether location history is turned on or the GPS Location service is running on your phone. LBS will provide information, but not so accurately.

Let’s take a look at third-party apps for finding a phone.

3.1. xfi Locator Lite – Find iPhone, Android Devices

The application is installed on a smartphone running Android or iOS. Allows you to determine the phone’s last location and turn on its sound. You can search both from another device with the same account or on the site.

The application shows the timestamp, the address of the device, the battery level. It is possible to work with layers on the map.

3.2. Google Find My Device

GPS tracker for Android. Install the application on your phone. In case of loss or theft, install the application on another phone, register with the same account, and see the phone’s last location. You can call him through the app.

There is a “Last Hope” setting. Allows you to send information about the method of communication with the owner to the subscriber on the lost phone. Also, in this section, proxies are appointed who, upon a signal, will receive the coordinates of your phone and the state of the battery.

Conclusion

GPS locators are definitely useful applications. Modern smartphones have capacious batteries and low-power GPS modules, so there is no need to turn off geolocation on your phone.

We choose an application depending on the tasks – to track the location and activities of children, take care of elderly relatives, coordinate family events, or just search for your lost smartphone – there is a program for every request, taste, and wallet.