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I am thinking about taking a long-distance rideshare offered by a stranger on Craigslist. For safety, I would like my friends to track my location, until I reach the destination and tell them that I safely arrive.

  1. Is it possible to use my Android phone to

    • share my location with others during my travel, and
    • then stop sharing my location after I arrive?
  2. If yes, does it depend on the signal strength of my mobile carrier along the way? Or does it only rely on the GPS, which isn't affected by mobile signal strength? My mobile carrier uses Sprint network, which usually has worse signal strength than other networks in remote areas.

Thanks.

2 Answers 2

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As there's no on-board feature covering your needs, I'd recommend taking a look at Glympse. With this app you can decide when to start or stop sharing your location, you could even set a timeout. Only you would need to have the app installed, and those you've shared your location to can watch it on any web-enabled device:

Glympse is a fast, free, and simple way to share your location safely using GPS tracking in real time with friends and family!

No sign up required! Only those you share with can view your Glympse from any web-enabled device.

For alternatives, please take a look at my Location Sharing list.

Any solution will depend on your phone having internet access: it can't work with GPS alone. GPS is only a way for your phone to find out where it is: it doesn't itself allow anyone else to know your location. If you go outside of data coverage, your location will stop updating.

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  • Thanks. What do you mean by " on-board feature "?
    – Tim
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 10:10
  • Something that already exists on your device and doesn't require an additional app would be called "on-board". I'm not aware of anything like that in this case, so IMHO you will need an app. Glympse IMHO is the best candidate here.
    – Izzy
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 10:14
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Why don't you try using GPS tracking Apps, there are quite a few available in google play store. - GPS Phone Tracker etc.,

So that way they can track your location and check if you reached the destination and once you reach the destination they can give you a call or vice-versa to check on you.

Yes, GPS plays an important part in this task to pinpoint your location.

P.S- I use this app with my family and it works fine. I couldn't add more than one link, but if you search on Google Play Store you should be able to find many more apps similar to this one.

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  • Thanks. (1) With a GPS tracker app, what do I need to do to start and stop letting my friend tracking my location? Does my friend need to do anything on his phone? (2) Does tracking my location depend on my mobile signal strength?
    – Tim
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 5:13
  • 1. Yes, both you and your friend should have the app installed on your devices. All your friend has to do is to open the app and check where you are. Once registered you will be shown on your friend's app and vice-versa. You can't stop him from tracking you because it is like a continuous service and your friend can't track you if you loose GPS or if your GPS is turned off. 2. I haven't noticed any problem with my signal, but it mainly uses your GPS.Hence as long as you are connected to GPS it should work fine.
    – Dazzler
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 5:21
  • It is really bad that I can't stop him tracking me later. How inconvenient it is to let him track me forever just because of one ride.
    – Tim
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 5:28

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