Top 5 Family Locator Apps (updated 2020)

Top Free mobile tracking apps for kids

Whether your eldest is getting ready to travel around the world, or you just want to make sure the kids are making their way home from the playing fields for dinner at the time they said they would be, family mobile tracking apps are the ideal way to keep tabs on your family’s whereabouts.

GPSWOX Family Locator

gpswox-family-locator-appThis free-to-use locator app comes with a great mix of safety features to keep your worries at bay. GPSWOX Family Locator app will let you know when a family member’s battery is low and will send you an up-to-date location at the time of notification, so you won’t panic if your child or spouse doesn’t get in touch. You can also set alerts for when members reach a certain place, and track average speeds of younger and less experienced drivers in the family. The app also allows you to check the past 30 days of the movement, so you can see exactly where someone has been within that time frame at any given point.
This app offers many of the same positives as other apps listed, with some additional safety features which differentiate it from the pack. DOWNLOAD FAMILY LOCATOR FOR FREE

Life360 Family Locator

life360-family-locatorLife360’s mobile tracking app helps you to keep a watchful eye over your family with a handy map display and alerts for when someone reaches a specified location.
Standout features of the app include its Family Channel, helping everyone keep in touch at the same time. It also alerts you when one of your family members has reached a specified destination. Other positives are that the app helps you track lost or stolen phones and provides a Crash Detection service, getting in touch to offer assistance for a driver if they believe they may have had an accident. Life360 Family Locator is also completely free of charge.
Overall, the app offers excellent service above and beyond a typical family locator app’s remit as well as simple functionality for family members of all ages.

 

Sygic Family Locator

sygic-family-locatorSygic’s family locator is designed to keep kids safe and help families stay in touch and has been awarded by Parent Tested Parent Approved.
The app’s cross-platform compatibility allows you to communicate with your family even if you’re using different phone types and different operating systems. The app also allows you to set unsafe zones and sends an alert if your child enters it. Sygic’s family locator will send/receive SOS messages if you or your family are ever in trouble and also works as an offline GPS for driver navigation. The app is also free to use with optional premium packages.
Ideal for those with younger children, but perhaps a little lacking in features for those with older kids.

 

Sprint FamilyWall

sprint-familywallSprint’s FamilyWall helps you keep an eye on and keep connected with all of the family. A platform to share photos as well as locate everyone means that it’s more than just an eye from afar.
Features which help FamilyWall break away from the pack include its functionality for organizing and communicating. You can set tasks and to-do lists as well as reminders for the whole family, meaning no one has an excuse for not knowing what’s going on. Members can share their location to help you see where they are.
Downsides to this application are that it only offers a free 15-day trial, after that it’s $2.99 per month for its premium service and $5.99 for its premium+ service. It also doesn’t include as many safety features as other apps on this list and requires family members to share their location on the wall actively.
The app lacks in some features that others excel in but is a great way for the family to keep in touch with each other’s goings on, perhaps better for those with older children or even adult children just to stay in the know.

 

Verizon Family Locator

verizon-family-locatorVerizon’s Family Locator is a great locator app with safety features and directions to family members’ current locations as standard.
A handy top down map with detailed turn-by-turn directions helps you know exactly where your family members are at any given moment, and how best to get to them in the case of any eventuality. The app also provides an average speed calculator to keep track on teens who may be inexperienced on the road.
It’s an expensive app at $9.99 per month after a one-month free trial but covers up to 10 phones in that plan. The app is also not readily available through Apple App Store or Google Play, rather through Verizon’s website, which makes it a little inconvenient.

 

Mobile tracking apps conclusion

All of these apps offer varying degrees of features to make them stand out from the rest, and the one for you depends on your needs. If you need an app with lots of safety features for all of the family, either GPSWOX family locator or Life360 are ideal, with Verizon also offering worthwhile features for everyone. If you’re particularly worried about the younger ones, Sygic may be best, and for keeping in touch with family members as opposed to watching over them, Sprint’s FamilyWall is probably the option you’ll appreciate most.

More information

A family locator app may never have been at the top of your “want” list, but in the end, you want to be able to relax. And that’s exactly what family tracking can do for you.

Your children, partner, and other members of your family are the most precious things in the world. You can always replace an item of jewelry or a toy or a vehicle…you can’t replace a member of your family. A family locating app will let you know where members of your family are at all times.

There will be occasions where you need to know where someone is just for your own peace of mind. A locator tracker will let you see where they are and put your mind at rest.

This could be someone making a difficult journey to work, a child heading out to school, or a young person navigating the city for the first time on their own. They are old enough to go, but are they wise enough to know where all the roads lead and how to get back?

In the worst case, a family locator app will let you find them easily and bring them right back home.

It is illegal to track another adult person without their consent, but this is not the case with children. It’s a great idea to know where the kids are, especially for a nervous parent who may always fear the worst. If you’re planning on tracking your partner or another older family member using a family tracking mobile app, always make sure you obtain their permission before starting. Trust is a great thing to have, but it should never be abused.

Some locator tracker apps have features built in that are absolutely outstanding – for example, potential crash detection, panic buttons to send emergency SOS messages, and so on. With a great range of apps available on different platforms, the choice is entirely yours, and you can choose a family tracking app that works well for your needs.

If you’re a group of adults who have taken a vacation to a foreign land, you might want to track each other so you can meet up easily – this is an entirely different application of the software but is an entirely valid use of the apps. You might think you won’t need an SOS button in this instance…but there’s always that one member of your group who is going to get lost!

All in all, a family locator app will give you peace of mind and make your life easier. You don’t have to call people to see if they’ve arrived – you can see it on a map. You don’t have to worry about people getting lost, and in case of emergency they can easily get in contact with you.

Family locator apps are available in many different price categories, from free to outright purchases or monthly subscriptions. Choosing the one that suits your needs is an entirely subjective experience, but the time get one is now – before someone gets lost!