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Safe running app?

WickAndArtoo
WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
edited November 20 in Social Groups
I have seen it mentioned before but can't remember where, is there an app that syncs your gps to someone else's phone (example: my husband's phone) so they know where you are "just in case"?

Replies

  • MNLittleFinn
    MNLittleFinn Posts: 4,271 Member
    WickAndArtoo wrote: »
    I have seen it mentioned before but can't remember where, is there an app that syncs your gps to someone else's phone (example: my husband's phone) so they know where you are "just in case"?

    Strava has the beacon that does that
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    MNLittleFinn wrote: »
    WickAndArtoo wrote: »
    I have seen it mentioned before but can't remember where, is there an app that syncs your gps to someone else's phone (example: my husband's phone) so they know where you are "just in case"?

    Strava has the beacon that does that

    Okay thank you!
  • 7lenny7
    7lenny7 Posts: 3,498 Member
    Garmin Connect will do that as well, as will standalone apps such as Glympse.

    I think you have to be a premium member of Strava to send your location to someone in realtime. Garmin Connect & Glympse are free.

    Garmin Connect requires that you use a GPS watch, such as a Forerunner. Glymse uses your phone's GPS so no GPS watch is required.
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    7lenny7 wrote: »
    Garmin Connect will do that as well, as will standalone apps such as Glympse.

    I think you have to be a premium member of Strava to send your location to someone in realtime. Garmin Connect & Glympse are free.

    Garmin Connect requires that you use a GPS watch, such as a Forerunner. Glymse uses your phone's GPS so no GPS watch is required.

    Thank you so much! I did try the free upgrade to see what it was like on strava, $7.99 is steep if others provide it for free! I'm not really at a level that the rest of the premium features matter to me, so I'm going to check it glymse... I don't have a watch yet but am considering getting one.
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
    You will need a Garmin watch to use the LiveTrack feature, and it needs to be connected to your phone via bluetooth. It will send the person a link where they can view your location and progress.
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    The_Enginerd wrote: »
    You will need a Garmin watch to use the LiveTrack feature, and it needs to be connected to your phone via bluetooth. It will send the person a link where they can view your location and progress.

    A few years ago, LiveTrack was great. Sent an email to my sisters, and they could follow my progress in a half marathon or marathon.

    Then Garmin "upgraded" the Garmin Connect app. Now it talks to the network incessantly, and it's a battery hog. There's no way my phone battery will make it through a marathon while running Garmin Connect, and making it through a half is dubious. And without the phone app, LiveTrack doesn't work.
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
    edited August 2017
    MobyCarp wrote: »
    The_Enginerd wrote: »
    You will need a Garmin watch to use the LiveTrack feature, and it needs to be connected to your phone via bluetooth. It will send the person a link where they can view your location and progress.

    A few years ago, LiveTrack was great. Sent an email to my sisters, and they could follow my progress in a half marathon or marathon.

    Then Garmin "upgraded" the Garmin Connect app. Now it talks to the network incessantly, and it's a battery hog. There's no way my phone battery will make it through a marathon while running Garmin Connect, and making it through a half is dubious. And without the phone app, LiveTrack doesn't work.

    I haven't seen that issue with mine on Android. I've used it while running an ultra which took over 6 hours and had plenty of battery left at the end. I also keep mine connected via bluetooth with Smart Notifications turned on and the battery usage for the app doesn't even register and bluetooth accounts for 1% of my battery use over the course of a day.

    Now the MFP app... that thing eats a TON of battery and data. So far it's used 10% of my battery and 200 MB of data, for 20 minutes of actual use in the last 3 days.
  • 7lenny7
    7lenny7 Posts: 3,498 Member
    WickAndArtoo wrote: »
    Thank you so much! I did try the free upgrade to see what it was like on strava, $7.99 is steep if others provide it for free! I'm not really at a level that the rest of the premium features matter to me, so I'm going to check it glymse... I don't have a watch yet but am considering getting one.

    My wife and I used Glympse last night. SHe was picking me up from work and sent me her location so I could track when she'd get here. I timed it so I got out the door just as she pulled up.

    One nice feature with Glympse is that the recipient of your tracking link doesn't need to have the app installed. The link can open up a browser with a live tracking map.
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
    edited August 2017
    The_Enginerd wrote: »
    MobyCarp wrote: »
    The_Enginerd wrote: »
    You will need a Garmin watch to use the LiveTrack feature, and it needs to be connected to your phone via bluetooth. It will send the person a link where they can view your location and progress.

    A few years ago, LiveTrack was great. Sent an email to my sisters, and they could follow my progress in a half marathon or marathon.

    Then Garmin "upgraded" the Garmin Connect app. Now it talks to the network incessantly, and it's a battery hog. There's no way my phone battery will make it through a marathon while running Garmin Connect, and making it through a half is dubious. And without the phone app, LiveTrack doesn't work.

    I haven't seen that issue with mine on Android. I've used it while running an ultra which took over 6 hours and had plenty of battery left at the end. I also keep mine connected via bluetooth with Smart Notifications turned on and the battery usage for the app doesn't even register and bluetooth accounts for 1% of my battery use over the course of a day.

    Now the MFP app... that thing eats a TON of battery and data. So far it's used 10% of my battery and 200 MB of data, for 20 minutes of actual use in the last 3 days.

    So for reference, I just used it on today's long run. On a 3 hour run with LiveTrack going, my battery went from 78% to 74% on a Moto G5 Plus. I have a 920xt.

    I don't know it that was a bug with a certain certain version or an issue with the specific watch/phone that was causing the battery drain, but the battery use seems to be very minimal in my experience.
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    The_Enginerd wrote: »
    The_Enginerd wrote: »
    MobyCarp wrote: »
    The_Enginerd wrote: »
    You will need a Garmin watch to use the LiveTrack feature, and it needs to be connected to your phone via bluetooth. It will send the person a link where they can view your location and progress.

    A few years ago, LiveTrack was great. Sent an email to my sisters, and they could follow my progress in a half marathon or marathon.

    Then Garmin "upgraded" the Garmin Connect app. Now it talks to the network incessantly, and it's a battery hog. There's no way my phone battery will make it through a marathon while running Garmin Connect, and making it through a half is dubious. And without the phone app, LiveTrack doesn't work.

    I haven't seen that issue with mine on Android. I've used it while running an ultra which took over 6 hours and had plenty of battery left at the end. I also keep mine connected via bluetooth with Smart Notifications turned on and the battery usage for the app doesn't even register and bluetooth accounts for 1% of my battery use over the course of a day.

    Now the MFP app... that thing eats a TON of battery and data. So far it's used 10% of my battery and 200 MB of data, for 20 minutes of actual use in the last 3 days.

    So for reference, I just used it on today's long run. On a 3 hour run with LiveTrack going, my battery went from 78% to 74% on a Moto G5 Plus. I have a 920xt.

    I don't know it that was a bug with a certain certain version or an issue with the specific watch/phone that was causing the battery drain, but the battery use seems to be very minimal in my experience.

    I'll have to give it another try. I have an iPhone 5, and I liked having Garmin Connect active all the time so I could swipe my watch and get the weather; but ended up killing it for battery life. Maybe that's been improved since I quit using Connect all the time.

    One factor that is not specific to Connect, but does hit it: If I am someplace without signal, the phone battery drains more quickly as whatever is using that signal tries again and again and again to talk to a network it can't reach. It's most obvious with a real hog like Waze, and exists just with the phone itself, but I expect Connect would be part of the drain in that situation.
  • 99clmsntgr
    99clmsntgr Posts: 777 Member
    Although I have never used it, RoadID also has an app with an optional "Stationary Alert" - if your GPS stops registering movement for 5 minutes it sends an alert to your emergency contacts.

    https://roadid.com/ecrumbs
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