Location app.
Hi to all.
My wife and her sister are going to South Carolina to see her daughter. Can anyone recommend a free decent location app so I can check their location now and then. I don't want to call or text too much beings they're driving. Thanks in advance.
Bob K. 
Calico696 My wife and I use the free version of Life360 which not only gives location but also has tracking for hard braking, phone use while driving, and time on the road. It's not intrusive as Calico states as no one but your family circle (that you make in the app) can see where you are. It's free and useful for us. This was not about a lack of trust as where each other is but we are in our 70's and think it is helpful for us to know when we travel out alone.
MK Thanks MK.
I feel exactly like you about lack of trust.
I just want to know location without interrupting their driving.
I'll try Life360.
As yourself we're in our 70's also !
If you and at least one of the travelers have iPhones, you can do this without installing a 3rd party app. The built-in Find My app allows users to share their location with any other specific iPhone. And of course it can be turned off at will, so one can choose when they wish to be tracked and when they don't.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/105104
Monty I used Apple airtag on a lot of stuff I want to find...... Not fancy, but easy as long as you can handle the little fob. four pack for $15. amazon.
babbit 
not sackWhen I said it was "creepy" I didn't mean in the sense that random people would know where someone is. It's creepy that the OP has a need to know where he wife is every second of the day.
Calico, it is not creepy unless trust issues are involved. As I said we are over 70 and it is helpful to know that they got where they were going and safely on their way back. I think an air tag is creepy if the person being tracked doesn't know. Don't be suspicious of motives if you do not know the situation with them.
If your wife wants to call or txt to check in.... what's stopping her?
In case of an accident- unless both her and her daughter are incapacitated- you will hear if something happens.
If they are both incapacitated- you playing big brother isn't going to help whatsoever anyway.
I agree with Calico...it's a weird world we live in.
HEY- there are some guys in the wooded area of a park- and they aren't wearing spandex shorts and running like me- I should call the cops!! ...and post online about it.
(I say that as a person who metal detects for a hobby and has had a LOT of 'Karen' come up to me...)
Josh "Well said MK. I was going to nicely explain to Calico but you beat me to it !!"
No Bob- the only true answer is your own insecurities.
There is nothing 'helpful' about it- it just makes YOU feel better..
Just tell your wife-
"Hey Honey- call me before you go to bed to let me know you made it ok"
Like any normal person would have done 10-20-30-40-50-60-70-80-90...year ago
I've been an HL participant for many many years and over those years I have posted less and less and less; much less. I feel compelled to post on Bob K's Location App question. In My Humble Opinion the only necessary and kind response to his question was the name of the App that would work for his purpose.
Mrs. Pipes Reality isn't kind.
And yes- the world as society would be better if all were held to reality.
So to that end- your thoughts on what 'compels' you are different than others...and some would say 'only kind is necessary' is the wrong reason to be compelled.
We live in crazy times... 'free' college....'free basic income'... no self responsibility, accountability...
Your wife can use Facebook. There is a location feature and if she turns it on, you'll get a messenger message and then she can allow you to follow her trip. I've done it. Works great.
Thank you Mrs Pipes and the very few others who answered my original question. All the others who pretend to be Dr. Phil is why people leave forums. Just answer the question that is asked and not try to prove your better than anyone else.
Trust me I will NEVER ask or comment on this forum again.
The name of this forum should be changed to Hackettstown Get A Life !
Bob K,
Agree 100%.
And you'll often find it's the same people who reply with snarky answers or other BS.
It's why I rarely post.
Btw, I know you said you have an Android, but for the benefit of other readers of this thread, the "Find My" app on the iphone has been SUPER helpful to my wife & I. I'm often climbing mountains in the Adirondacks, VT, NH, and Maine, sometimes solo. With the Find My app, she can keep track of my progress, and God forbid something happens, she can alert rangers to my precise location.
Anyway, best of luck to you with all this.
R
Rob Durana Hey, when my wife is bringing home that Star Tavern best NJ pizza, I like to know when to preheat the oven and pizza stone without bothering her in the car, demanding she call me at the appropriate time, whatever.
It's got many tame, non intrusion, benefits.
And quit picking on Dr. Phil......the man's a saint.
heh, heh. friday's fun day!!!! enjoy the sunshine, bring on the heat.
"And you'll often find it's the same people who reply with snarky answers or other BS."
Yes, it is the same people. Because those people are the ones on here that have common sense, don't live in constant paranoia and ignore mainstream news.
"Yes, it is the same people. Because those people are the ones on here that have common sense, don't live in constant paranoia and ignore mainstream news."
You don't know me. If you think I don't have common sense, live in constant paranoia, or listen to mainstream news, you're mistaken.
Have a nice day!
What's the difference in Bob checking an app vs.answering a phone call or text message? Nothing.
It would be weird, and maybe even "creepy," if Bob was tracking his wife without her knowledge. It is not at all weird (and it's also no business of any of the rest of us) if they decide together that they want to stay connected in this manner.
Mrs. Pipes is right.
You guys are mean. If something happens to his wife at least he can tell the police where she was last. There are a lot of angry people out there and they are taking it out on the elderly as well as others.
Patti Almost any app like Life360 is also selling your data, places you travel and more.
https://themarkup.org/privacy/2023/06/01/life360-sued-for-selling-location-data
Bob, the better idea is to have them disable driving mode on their phone. Just google their type of phone and driving mode. It can auto-respond to texts with "I'm busy" type messages and reject phone calls and more. This doesn't invade anyone's privacy but could satisfy your desire not to bother them while driving.
alpha1beta Some of you are rude . It’s not creepy at all and I’m sure he gets worried when his wife goes places that are out of state .
Mike I think people are applying 2024 creep-level barometers to someone who’s been married for possibly 50 years. I think OP probably finds the technology neat and also gives him piece of mind in that anxious moment off: “I wonder if she’s alright…”
This is of course assuming his wife knows he’s tracking her.
Since I'm in the "older" category here, I can picture this situation. Husband & wife discussing how can we keep track of each other when traveling since life is a bit more precarious for us oldsters. "I bet there an app for that", but neither is really great at all this newfangled tech stuff, so hubby says I'll check in the HL forum for some advice on what good apps are available, never expecting to create a furor.
There were some good suggestions in among all the other stuff. Good luck, Bob.
Lonesome Dove I have Life360, it does not have any personal information (no car, no name, just location) and the reporting is not exact as it does not contain address recognition. It tells what you are near not exactly where you are except in a general GPS location. I have no idea what information from that can be sold. No email, no personal data, no banking info, free app with no ads seems like a lot of worry about nothing.
“It’s creepy that the OP has a need to know where he wife is every second of the day.”
OP - “so I can check their location now and then.”
“I don’t want to call or text too much beings their driving.”
( in a long trip to South Carolina )
OP is the one with common sense in my opinion.
Everyone seems to be overlooking the fact that the OP said that his wife is traveling with her sister. She's not even going to be driving alone.
If your wife wants to call or txt to check in.... what's stopping her?
Never did get an answer to that....
When I drive to SC, to see my parents and siblings who moved down there, I rarely even stop, other than to grab gas and maybe food (once, around the halfway point).
Any other stops are usually strictly for a bathroom break and that's often just a run in, run out deal.
While I TRY to remember to text my Dad how my trip is progressing, so they don't worry, he, and even more so, my Mom, are normally worried until I knock on their front door, and I don't always remember to text, since I'm mainly concerned with getting right back on the road. I'm sure that if they had a way to track my progress after I leave, they'd be much happier. I wouldn't see that as intrusive at all, because I'm mindful that at their ages it puts much more stress on them than they need in their lives. It's about 625 miles each way, just as the OP's wife's trip likely is, though hers may likely be even more.
Even with modern day tools, of syncing the phone to the car (and not everyone does that - some can't, or won't), getting a text, or especially a phone call at an inopportune time can be very distracting whilst driving for some people. The thing is, the caller doesn't know what conditions are like where the driver is, nor whether they're in a bad or even dangerous traffic situation. Some people also get motion sickness in the car while trying to read, so can't read nor text while a passenger, and as I well know, some people get distracted by the 3 party conversation between driver, passenger and caller.
Others aren't even sure exactly where they are, so there's always that, as well. As long as the OP is using it just as he states, and isn't using it all the time to track his wife's whereabouts surreptitiously, then I see no problem. I understand the issues that crop up while making these types of trips, mostly from being on many with my parents.
Phil D. Yea...and you both are misinterpreting rational thought...
MK- respecting poor behavior...is a poor choice...across the board.
Anyone wondering how we got to this society- there is the seed.
People behaving poorly should *absolutely* should be called out, pressured to improve, even scolded shamed in extreme cases... there is no sense of shame any more and there should be. It's insane.
If anything- old people should agree.
Go to a public place- see what people wear in public to a mall, or worse- a restaurant.
Drive down a street- see people with garbage in their yard...or houses with peeling paint, weeds growing in their gutters...
My wife has mentioned wanting to move somewhere warmer ...and I have responded...imagine how much worse it is in other states if we have this here!
Anyone who says 'mean / rude' is emotional and irrational. Fact's are facts.
Just tell your wife-
"Hey Honey- call me before you go to bed to let me know you made it ok"
Like any normal person would have done years ago.
Problem solved.