All of these tracking apps do about the same thing. They get the "GPS" (actually tower triangulation) info from the last contact the phone made with a tower.
Not as accurate as seen on TV crime shows... good for telling it you left it at home vs work. It can narrow it down to maybe within 20 ft radius on a good day.
For someone at a different location to be able to see it real time its going to require some form of communication link...
WiFi would need you to stay within a limited range of the hot spot.
That leaves cell internet service, satellite service (with its specialized equipment) or buying the equipment to set up your own radio telecommunication link.
You could buy a EPRB (Emergency Personal Radio Beacon) but those are a bit expensive and on a Sunfish you'd need the manual activated type. Automatic activation would be too likely to happen just from how easy it is to roll the small sailboat over. Those don't send your position to anyone except emergency services and they generally are not happy if you accidentally activate it.
I am assuming I can buy the Family Spy plan with AT&T and my Wife could see where I was before I sank! I wonder if that program creates something like Tags app ?
The last thing I would want is my wife calling me up and asking, " why did you wait so long to tack?"
Then, if you stop to take a break, she will call 911 because "the boat stopped moving."
If you want to "check in" while out sailing, just get one of those clear plastic kayak bags and hang it from the front. You can operate the phone thru the bag, and put it on speaker to do hands-free. Works pretty good.
No one should be tracking you but Google and the government.
Our whole family uses find my friend. You can turn it off when you want to go incognito. It's not perfect at location (I may be in the house and it shows me in the street) but it's pretty close.
Here's my setup. This phone has a shortcut app so that i can do one-touch dialing. After I've been out sailing for an hour or so, then I call my wife and ask her to guess where i am. If she guesses sailing, then I say, no, i'm taking a bath.
Our whole family uses find my friend. You can turn it off when you want to go incognito. It's not perfect at location (I may be in the house and it shows me in the street) but it's pretty close.
It's in the App Store. Is it not available for Android? Many of them are available for both droid and iPhone. I suppose it uses a minute amount of data.
All of these tracking apps do about the same thing. They get the "GPS" (actually tower triangulation) info from the last contact the phone made with a tower.
Not as accurate as seen on TV crime shows... good for telling it you left it at home vs work. It can narrow it down to maybe within 20 ft radius on a good day.
Here's my setup. This phone has a shortcut app so that i can do one-touch dialing. After I've been out sailing for an hour or so, then I call my wife and ask her to guess where i am. If she guesses sailing, then I say, no, I'm taking a bath.