What is the best app to to monitor child location via GPS?

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bazonksfan@reddit

One option I’ve tried before is iSharing. It’s similar to Life360 but a bit simpler, and it doesn’t really matter if you’re on iPhone or Android, it syncs fine.

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dyl917@reddit

I agree, iSharing is easy to set up. It makes keeping track of my kids locations much less stressful.

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SignificantTwo1729@reddit

Oh nice, I’ve heard of iSharing but never really tried it. Good to know it works smoothly across iPhone and Android.

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davidsmith-12345@reddit

No one's answering the question, just telling them they shouldn't use one.

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jhefin83@reddit (OP)

Based off the comments, I went with Life360.

This thread is over!

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Sorry to break it to you but part of being a good parent learning to give your child some independence, it's hard and scary but it has to be done. If you've taught them to be independent and sensible enough to walk home alone then you don't need a tracker on them.

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SirDage@reddit

Lunatic

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heliskinki@reddit

Sorry to break it to you, but when the tech is there to keep your kid safer, if you are a parent you're mad not to take advantage of it.

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pencilrain99@reddit

But it doesn't make them.any safer, they are entirely for the benefit of parental control.

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heliskinki@reddit

> entirely for the benefit of parental control.

That's all you see? Do you have kids?

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pencilrain99@reddit

Yeah and never had the need to monitor their every movement, its scary and worrying letting them go into the world without you but having independence is a very important part of growing up. A monitor is not going to protect them from any harm .

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superAK56@reddit

perhaps one bad incidence is what you need to change your opinion. The world needs to be considerate towards others perspective. This thread was meant to be for recommendations for gps tracker not for your lecture. Thanks for understanding that you are not understanding others perspective.

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ManyStep6074@reddit

Ignore these people, they don't get it.... I am also looking for a good cross functional find me App

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zone6isgreener@reddit

It doesn't really do that. Parents get themselves in a state more than it helps, and kids who want to hide can turn their phones off or if the TV style kidnapper grabs them then they chuck the phone.

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heliskinki@reddit

My kid likes us to know where she is. We know she can turn it off, and she knows how to turn it off.

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Low_Resolve9379@reddit

I think there's nuance to it. It isn't inherently bad, but it can be misused. When everyone agrees to it and it's not used as a method of control there's no issue. I think in some contexts it can absolutely be used to stifle kid's growing independence in a negative way.

If you don't think this technology can be abused then you don't know what some parents can be like. A friend of mine has parents who still sets rules for them about where they're allowed to go. They're 22 and live independently and they can't sleep over at their boyfriend's house or go to bars and clubs because their parents will know. They can't just disable it because they've threatened to withdraw their college tuition if they turn it off (they're American and university tuition works differently there, it would have been financially ruinous to try and fund it independently). They can work around it by just leaving their phone at home, but that ultimately makes things less safe because if something does happen they won't be able to contact anyone.

This is an adult in their twenties who is being kept on a virtual leash. Technology has enabled their parents to control them even after moving out. I don't think this situation is healthy for anyone involved.

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heliskinki@reddit

Yeah I’m not going to do that once she’s out of school. And having the tracker has given my daughter more independence.

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R_12345678910@reddit

Sorry to break it to you but you need to think about whether you should do something just because you can. Put your thinking cap on.

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

I think people get the wrong idea about these apps, it is not about standing over it tracking their every move. It can ping when they do get to their mate's house or school, tells you the battery is low and stuff like that. Even as basic stuff as being able to find the phone if it is lost. It is just one more mildly useful app out of the many we put on phones.

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GoGoGadget_D@reddit

All the opinions and all you asked was which is the best app. Love when people give opinions of shit you didn't ask for. Thank you people

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Altruistic_Crab_9087@reddit

If you want something straightforward, iSharing works on both android and ios. The inactivity alerts can be useful too if you’re worried about safety.

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hellopriyasharma@reddit

Hi! As a preschool teacher and a parent myself, I totally understand wanting to keep an eye on your child, especially as they get older and start having more independence. There are several apps out there for tracking kids' locations in real time. A popular choice is HelloParent, which works on both Android and iPhone. It allows you to track your child’s location in real-time, set alerts, and keep track of their safety throughout the day.

While HelloParent is mainly designed for school communication, its GPS tracking feature has been incredibly helpful for me in ensuring my students' safety during school hours, and I think it could work well for keeping tabs on your daughter too.

Good luck, and stay safe!

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jhefin83@reddit (OP)

Thank you.

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cintropa@reddit

We’re in a similar situation, both parents on Android, and our daughter uses an iPhone. As she started walking home alone, we wanted a way to check her location occasionally. There are a few good options out there. Find My Kids and GeoZilla are both cross-platform and offer real-time GPS tracking, notifications, and location history, quite handy for day-to-day use. But, we ended up choosing Kidsee, mostly because it combines location tracking with screen time management. It’s been working well for us so far, and the setup between Android and iPhone was pretty smooth.

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jhefin83@reddit (OP)

I went with Life360 does everything that we need. X

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No_Mycologist_2370@reddit

I believe in a child to have some independence, but, when the child lies all the time and has been in probation and in trouble, I think that the child should be monitored constantly. We are his guardians, not his parents. His parents are not in the picture.

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Varkanoid@reddit

There is nothing wrong with putting a tracker on your kids phone. As long as both parties agree then its not a problem. Helps you with peace of kind etc.

Plus you are forgetting one very important advantage that you all seem to overlook. Nothing to do with independence or trust, its when they do that frequent annoying thing that drives you mad. Lets you know where the blinkin phone is when they cant find it ! Pity we cant put a tracker on the other 100+ items they lose all the time, socks, underwear, money, etc etc !

Just as an example my son lost his phone but it clearly showed it was somewhere in the house. Also lost his phone onetime and it was at the shop he had been to. We got it back.

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Muzz124@reddit

Ditch the androids and get an iPhone.

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jhefin83@reddit (OP)

Ha, never been a fan.

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mdh89@reddit

Find my iPhone has been a godsend for my family, we’re all able to locate each other at all times so they know where we are and we know where they are.

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pencilrain99@reddit

That's just weird

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Muzz124@reddit

Not a fan of your child’s safety either?

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nathderbyshire@reddit

Since when does being an iPhone user guarantee children's safety lmfao

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FriendlyGhost15@reddit

Yeah, get a whole new phone instead of just downloading Life360. OK then.

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Morganx27@reddit

And the most wild hyberbole of the year goes to...

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DrMoneybeard@reddit

Duh, didn't you know if you don't spend thousands on the newest piece of tech you are literally murdering your own children? Some people just don't think of the children!!!

Our parents never knew where we were and we turned out fine.

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Lassitude1001@reddit

The mental gymnastics with that comment is wild. OP can safely track their kid without switching phone.

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SWiftie_FOR_EverMorE@reddit

Not in the mood to spend thousands on a phone that is awful 😁

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Lassitude1001@reddit

You'd be better off ditching the kid's iphone and getting her the Android instead of replacing 2 phones.

Not only that, but setting them up with such a closed eco-system as an Android user is honestly just a take piss. I've literally just spent the evening tonight setting up my ex's younger sister's iphone after attempting a few weeks back but the screen had designed it didn't want to respond. Could have done everything I needed via Google Link in seconds on an Android.

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Soggy_Detective_4737@reddit

We use Life360. I have an Android phone, all my kids have iPhones

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R_12345678910@reddit

How old is she? If she's old enough to walk home alone then you ought to start thinking about the ethics of monitoring her location at all times. You say you're happy with her walking home but clearly that is not the case. Sounds like you need to do some thinking first.

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jeminar@reddit

We did this to my kids. It got so normalised they still had it when my son went to uni.

During Freshers week, mum panics at 5am. "[...] Is in a police station. We need to save him!. He's not answering his phone!".

Turns out he'd met a girl who lives in a room above the police station. He wasn't answering his phone for other reasons.

Mum felt very silly. Tracking was stopped then, probably 5 years too late.

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dragonetta123@reddit

Don't start sneakily tracking them.

My 14 yr old son drops a WhatsApp pin that lasts a few hours.

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SWiftie_FOR_EverMorE@reddit

I don't know how they can do it sneakily given the child will see its uploaded... It's for safety

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dragonetta123@reddit

The location apps (life360 etc) don't tell you when someone is looking up your location.

And some apps don't even inform anyone listed as a minor there is GPS tracking software in it.

So yes, what starts off as innocent can turn into obsession.

I much prefer the drop a pin on WhatsApp so every time my son know I will be checking it and he's knows it's mum's paranoia.

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SWiftie_FOR_EverMorE@reddit

Oh I don't use life 360 I use a different app the other one seems a bit stalkerish

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nathderbyshire@reddit

Requesting live location is a better way but I guess you could forget or not be able to in an emergency. Still if it's just for walking home she can set it before setting off on the max limit like 2 hours.

Might be worth a small portable battery pack as well to make sure the phone doesn't die

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jhefin83@reddit (OP)

Thanks all I've downloaded life 360, setup was smooth and seems to do everything we as a family need.

For those that provided constructive feedback, thank you.

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PetitPxl@reddit

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Equal-Competition930@reddit

I have 360 and iam 38 . I have disability which causes me to get lost easily. But you got remember both of you not track each other relentless and have rules in place. A good relationship has to be in place especially as your talking about teenager probably and obviously teenagers with there mates can be tricky. Have chat with her about it and set some rules for both of you if she agrees.

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domsp79@reddit

We used Google Family Link which can operate on both android and IOS. Not sure how good the GPS tracking is as we haven't needed to use it yet.

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martin_81@reddit

It cannot be used to manage an iPhone.

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wayneio@reddit

Get an old iPhone and use FindMy

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MKMK123456@reddit

Family link on Google

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One-Dig-3067@reddit

Life360 although it’s not as good as find my friends on iPhone

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Lassitude1001@reddit

Google Family Link or Life360.

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velos85@reddit

You can do it through Google Maps, or just get them to share live on WhatsApp when walking home

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Scottish_squirrel@reddit

Life 360 is working great for my family

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lil-smartie@reddit

Find my kid is great, used for years.

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Odd_Alps_8843@reddit

American here… do you have Life360 in the UK? I never used it with my kids but heard a lot of kids complaining about it as a teacher. Seems to send parents lots of alerts and such.

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iceblnklck@reddit

We do! I have it for my kid and it’s great.

My friends and I have also used it for each other when we’re abroad too to make sure no-one goes walkabout.

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Crichtenasaurus@reddit

Someone may correct Ms on this but I think you can access the iCloud through a website and run the parental controls through that including screen time and find my iPhone. Otherwise I’d just say get an iPhone or iPad even if it’s a crappy old one.

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Enough-Ad3818@reddit

Life360 is used in my house. So long as you manage the favourites and stuff, then the notifications are not excessive.