Live Tracking My Ride

bj4x4

bj4x4

Likes Dirt
Hi,
Does anyone know of any apps or small gps devices where someone could track my ride live? My dad wants to be able to know where i am incase i come off my bike and he'll know where i am. I've heard of strava and currently have it on my phone (iphone 3gs) but i dont thing it can track me while i ride?

Thanks
Matt
 
I

IBO

Squid
download an app called google latitude and get your dad to do the same if he has a i-phone
 
W

walkietalkie

Likes Dirt

How to turn your iPhone into a GPS location-tracker:

The key to using your iPhone as a real-time GPS location tracker is the Find My iPhone service which is part of iCloud. Most people have probably heard about the Find My iPhone service -
Apple markets the service as a way to find your iPhone if it becomes lost or stolen - but what many do not realize about the Find My iPhone service is:

You can use Find My iPhone to get real-time maps of where your iPhone is at any time. You do not have to 'report' the phone as stolen.
You can get the location of your iPhone as often as you wish, with no limits
There is no limit to the number of iPhones you can track - they don't even have to be owned by you! Just remember: do not track a phone/person without that person's permission.
Should the iPhone owner catch on that you are tracking their every movement, the information they need to convict you will be stored in the iPhone.

How to setup location tracking on an iPhone:

On the iPhone you want to track, go into SETTINGS, then iCloud
Enter your iCloud account information
Scroll down through the iCloud options (contacts, calendars, etc) and make sure that Find My iPhone is ON

Your iPhone is now setup as a location tracker!

How to find and track the location of your iPhone:

From any computer connected to the internet: From any browser go to www.iCloud.com and sign in with your email address/iTunes account and password. Once signed-in select Find My iPhone. When prompted, re-enter your password. After a moment a list of all devices you have configured for tracking will show on the left of the screen. Click the device to track - after a moment a map will appear with the location of your device pin-pointed in the center (this usually takes a few seconds). If the iPhone is in motion it will not be updated live on the screen - click the refresh button near the upper-right (near the time) to update the location.

From another iPhone or an iPad: Download and install the free Find My iPhone app. Start the app and enter your Mobile Me membername (email) and password. Select the device to track from the list and a map will appear with the location. To update the map/location, click the refresh-button in the lower left.

When tracking on either a computer or another iPhone or iPad: on the map, select "hybrid" view for the best map view.

Hope it helps
 
rhyno

rhyno

Likes Dirt
Endomondo does live tracking. Also records your trip and gives stats like Strava, just doesn't compare you on segments like Strava.
It goes without saying that having an app like this will drain your battery pretty quickly, and also only work where you have data coverage (to send the gps co-ordinates out).
 
T

troyf

Cannon Fodder
I use endomondo. The basic version is free or you can pay about $5 to get the pro version. Their website is endomondo.com.
 
S

Shredden

Knows his goats
Wouldnt a live tracking thing make the battery last like 20 seconds?

I have a new battery in my 3GS and when using strava and shit it gets like an hour or two at best, not much good for a decent ride.
 
markb84

markb84

Likes Dirt
Find my friends uses significantly less battery than other location apps as the GPS is triggered by a data request, for instance if your dad wanted to know where you were he would open find my friends and select your name which then sends an ask request to your phone that will then initiate a GPS locate and report the coordinates to his phone.

With ios6 you can also setup geo-fencing with your contacts so you can setup an alert for when someone leaves or arrives at a location. So for instance if your dad was going to collect you from the far end of a 20k ride he could select the area nearby to the finish and when you are in that area he will recieve a notification so he'll know you're nearly ready to be picked up.
 
mik_git

mik_git

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I also use endomondo, the live tracking works fine, dunno about others but my phone will last at 2 hours and still have plenty of battery, damn thing turns off the screen though, which affects me, but not live tracking.
 
wilddemon

wilddemon

Likes Dirt
ViewRanger GPS

Hi. There's a free app called ViewRanger GPS that I've downloaded onto my Android. It's pretty good coz you can create a free account, and download GPX files from wherever, say, Trailflix and the like. Then you can upload them on your computer to your ViewRanger account, then get onto your phone and sync the files. Viola! You can now follow your GPX track without a Garmin. Okay, that's a total aside and not answering your question. It's got a feature called Buddy Beacon. You can send your old man a pin number and he can log onto ViewRanger and see where you are going. Hope this helps.
Oh and turn on your battery saving features so you don't get auto updates or checks etc. I can strava for over 7 hours with care which is longer than I can ride hard for. I know it's not that long, I'm thinking about solar USB charger next. I've been using an emergency charger when out for longer periods.
 
W

walkietalkie

Likes Dirt
markb84 said:
Find my friends uses significantly less battery than other location apps as the GPS is triggered by a data request, for instance if your dad wanted to know where you were he would open find my friends and select your name which then sends an ask request to your phone that will then initiate a GPS locate and report the coordinates to his phone.

With ios6 you can also setup geo-fencing with your contacts so you can setup an alert for when someone leaves or arrives at a location. So for instance if your dad was going to collect you from the far end of a 20k ride he could select the area nearby to the finish and when you are in that area he will recieve a notification so he'll know you're nearly ready to be picked up.
Click to expand...
That's probably the best info I've read, this geo fencing looks like
it would be an awesome thing to use in cases like you said above.
Thanks for the heads up Mark.

Cheers
 
silentbutdeadly

silentbutdeadly

has some good things to say
Most smartphones have the durability of toilet paper in an off road environment...even with their fashion statement mounts and cases.

Personally, the Spot Tracker is perfect for live tracking. It is cheap enough and built like brick shithouse. Plus it'll work in places that mobile phones just won't. You can even get a Spot model that uses Bluetooth to value add your smartphone (if you must).
 
0

0psi

Eats Squid
^^^ Agreed. I only take my phone on rides so I can call the missus if it all goes pear shaped. Stuck me Samsoong Galazy thingamy in my jersey pocket for a ride the other day and pulled it out to find dust under the screen. Glad I'm not a phone person otherwise I might have actually been upset by this.
 
Pastavore

Pastavore

Eats Squid
wilddemon said:
Hi. There's a free app called ViewRanger GPS that I've downloaded onto my Android. It's pretty good coz you can create a free account, and download GPX files from wherever, say, Trailflix and the like. Then you can upload them on your computer to your ViewRanger account, then get onto your phone and sync the files. Viola! You can now follow your GPX track without a Garmin. Okay, that's a total aside and not answering your question. It's got a feature called Buddy Beacon. You can send your old man a pin number and he can log onto ViewRanger and see where you are going. Hope this helps.
Oh and turn on your battery saving features so you don't get auto updates or checks etc. I can strava for over 7 hours with care which is longer than I can ride hard for. I know it's not that long, I'm thinking about solar USB charger next. I've been using an emergency charger when out for longer periods.
Click to expand...
This looks pretty cool, thanks for the link. Have just downloaded, hope to try it out soon
 
PINT of Stella. mate!

PINT of Stella. mate!

Many, many Scotches
Get done for a few public order offences and maybe a sex offence or two and hopefully courts will give you one of those hi-tech ankle bracelets.

They're cheaper than an iPhone and the battery lasts a lot longer too!
 
wilddemon

wilddemon

Likes Dirt
PINT of Stella said:
Get done for a few public order offences and maybe a sex offence or two and hopefully courts will give you one of those hi-tech ankle bracelets.

They're cheaper than an iPhone and the battery lasts a lot longer too!
Click to expand...
Do you find you get a bit more crank rub than normal with that POSM? :p
 
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