OwnTracks

Owntracks

About this app

OwnTracks allows you to keep track of your own location. You can build your private location diary or share it with your family and friends. OwnTracks is open-source and uses open protocols for communication so you can be sure your data stays secure and private.

For more information see our documentation (http://owntracks.org/booklet)

Ratings and reviews

PROS: Excellent location accuracy without undue battery impact. The MQTT based communication between family members' devices is a model for how apps should be designed and implemented, when it works. CONS: Fails to report location events reliably. The app user interface is missing some critical features and the JSON API is a bit cumbersome. Overall, this app would be awesome if as much effort were put into the Android version as appears to be given to iOS.

I've been using this for my family for a while now. It works great. Devs are very helpful and responsive via github. There are some nuances to how the reporting actually happens, and it's all clearly described in the documentation. Some reviewers complain that the location is wrong, but it's just how the Android significant changes API works. These people need to read the documentation!! It's all configurable, and you can push updates out to clients which is great.

Incredibly cool app! Once you get through the configuration (a bit complex but worth the effort and very customizable) it serves as a great, security-focussed alternative to other closed-source location sharing apps/systems from Google/Apple/etc. I highly recommend using Owntracks Recorder and Mosquitto MQTT broker as the backend for this app. If you don't need full MQTT, Recorder's HTTP endpoint works really well on Android. Happy tracking!

What's new

Release 2.5.3
Release notes and changelog can be found at https://github.com/owntracks/android/releases/tag/v2.5.3/
Please report any issues to https://github.com/owntracks/android/issues