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I often walk to work. Sometimes my wife will meet me part way. We always have to coordinate where I say I will be going down such and such a street and then turn here and go down another street.

It would be easier if she had an app on her phone that could locate my phone. I have seen numerous apps on the Google Play store, such as, "Find My Friends" or "Family Locator", but there are so many with so many features.

  • The most important feature is the locator--like a map with a flashing dot.
  • Also important is that the app does not unduly drain the battery.
  • Free is nice, but if the best app is not free I don't mind paying for the app.
  • I don't care about other features, such as chat, alerts, or circles.

Have any of you used any of these applications that you could recommend?

Update

I have been using the two recommendations since they were recommended.

Glympse

This is a good app. Things I like about it.

  • You can follow the person being tracked on a map that updates frequently.
  • The app gives the speed and direction of the person being tracked.
  • You can send a Glympse by email or text to people who don't have the Glympse app installed. They can follow on their phone or with a web browser on any computer.
  • Tracking is timed. Helpful if you don't want to always be trackable. (This can also be a problem. Once my wife sent me a Glympse and had unexpected delays, so the Glympse ran out too soon.)

Google+

Like kmort said in the recommendation, a nice bonus for this one is that you probably already have it on your phone. It does not have the features that Glympse does, such as showing direction and speed. It also only updates once per minute, which isn't helpful if one or both parties are moving. But for simple location sharing it works well.

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2 Answers 2

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You're most likely looking for something like Glympse:

Glympse "flashing dot" Glympse "See you at" Glympse Tokens
Glympse Screenshots: "Flashing dot" / "See you at..." / Tokens (source: Google Play; click images for larger variants)

  • "Flashing Dot Locator": Yupp, see first screenshot: Luke is at (right arrow), want to meet you at (Java Junction), and you are "a flashing dot" :)
  • Not unduly drain battery: You can time-limit the Glympse-Tokens (see the other two screenshots). Should stop locating then, and also no longer sending location data of course.
  • Free is nice: Glympse is free → Glympse is nice (Aristotle's Syllogism rule)
  • I don't care about...: Neither does Glympse: No sign-up needed and no new social network to manage. Though you can send your Tokens via SMS, email, Facebook or Twitter.

Disclosure: I've never used Glympse myself, but am eying it for quite a while already (hopefully I will find the time some day to check it out myself). But being an active member of multiple networks/forums, I've heard it recommended a lot. This, together with the good ratings the app receives at Google Play, makes it seeming save to be recommended here.

How it works?

Recipients receive a link allowing them to view your ETA and location in real-time for the length of time you choose.

When the timer on your Glympse expires, your location is no longer visible. Best of all, recipients do not need any special software to view a Glympse. Send a Glympse via SMS, email, Facebook or Twitter, and recipients can view it using any web-enabled device. You can also send a Glympse to your Evernote account to save that journey.

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  • I downloaded Glympse and will try it out the next few days. Thanks for the recommendation.
    – Daniel
    Feb 26, 2014 at 22:48
  • Anytime! Let us know how you liked it then. My recommendation is rather "second hand" still – yours would be first-hand, and thus a good contribution :)
    – Izzy
    Feb 27, 2014 at 0:36
  • I updated my question giving some feedback after using Glympse for a couple weeks. Good recommendation.
    – Daniel
    Mar 11, 2014 at 22:01
  • Would Glympse work offline and only with the GPS
    – Sunny
    Nov 16, 2017 at 7:24
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An option is to use Google+. Once you have the Google+ app, go to Locations. You can customize who can see your current location very easily.

It's not as fancy as Glympse, but gets the job done, especially if you already happen to have it on your phone.

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  • I updated my question giving some feedback after using Google+. Thanks for the recommendation.
    – Daniel
    Mar 11, 2014 at 22:02

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