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I have recently brought a car which I'm forced to keep it outside, away from my direct look for most of the time and am really concerned for it being getting stolen.

I am looking for an app which would help me in preventing car theft.

What I am looking for:

I have two mobile devices - one running Android and other running Windows. I want an app that I can install on one the device and leave it in the car with GPS enabled.

As soon as the car moves, it should send alert to the other device that I have with me. Is there such an app?

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  • They sell GPS units that can be hidden in the car and will text you when it detects movement. There's a remote so you arm it when you leave. If your car is gone you can text it and it will reply with GPS coordinates. Best of all a decent one is only $50 and then $10 a month for cell service. It's permanently wired so you don't need to worry about batteries. Sep 2, 2015 at 18:37
  • Thanks Zach. This sounds like an easy permanent solution.Can you please point me to any such service sites - It would be great.In the meantime, let me explore some nearby car accessory stores.
    – Soumya
    Sep 3, 2015 at 16:28
  • Try Mileage vehicle GPS Tracker app, and see this to know how to workaround for your case (note: AFAIK,this app doesn't support windows) Sep 4, 2015 at 10:34

4 Answers 4

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There is certainly a collection of apps you can use for this. One of the keywords to check is Geo-Fencing here, available with a bunch of e.g. "child protection" apps (see: Location Monitoring): you define the area your "child" (here: car) is permitted to be in, and as soon as it leaves that area (your car moves) an alert is triggered. Examples here are GPS or Network Tracking (not too many permissions requested; alerts per SMS) or tinyTraker.

Alternatively, whenever something shall be automated, I always think of Tasker – which of course also can deal with GeoFences, and can send alerts in many ways – e.g. per SMS or mail. Tasker doesn't come entirely for free (though there's a 7-day trial available on its website), but it can do a lot of things, so you might at least wish to check. For that, I recommend taking a look at my collection of Tasker resources.

I must admit I have no experiences in this area (Geofencing), so I cannot tell you how well the mentioned Android apps work. But the first two are free, so you can at least try them out – and Tasker is known to be "the non-plus-ultra automation app on Android".

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  • Thanks Izzy.This definitely served as my starting point.I could figure out an app - life360 which serves my purpose.I am yet to figure out how to set up a geo-fence.But it serves my purpose.
    – Soumya
    Sep 3, 2015 at 16:24
  • Glad to read – thanks for your feedback! And good luck with the app :)
    – Izzy
    Sep 3, 2015 at 21:30
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You can probably come up with a recipe for IFTTT, (If This Then That), which will detect motion on one phone and send a text to the other, if there isn't one already.

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  • Thanks Steve for the suggestion.I tried creating a recipe but the accuracy is not so great.I mean, it asks me to select a large enough area as a 'geo-fence'.
    – Soumya
    Sep 3, 2015 at 16:26
  • @Soumya - I think that you are trying to create a recipe based on GPS coordinates you could try for one using the phones acceleration detectors - must try to look into that. Sep 3, 2015 at 16:43
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I have seen a device/solution on kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/416260479/smartwallit-redefines-wallet-and-makes-wallet-smar/description

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I recommend you to try Matrix Internet Tracking

With Matrix Smartphone Tracking, you can track your vehicle or those of your loved-ones on selected Smartphone devices - anywhere, anytime; in real time! All Android and iPhone users who have either the Matrix MX2 or MX3 fitted to their vehicles can use this Smartphone Tracking Service to view:

  • your vehicle's movement history
  • individual trip routes on the map
  • the start and end point of each trip
  • your vehicle's current location
  • the current speed of a moving vehicle
  • your position in relation to that of your vehicle

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