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Mention location tracking app or anything that allows my location to be tracked in real-time, and immediately I find myself conjuring up scary thoughts about stalkers, kidnappers, and other bad scary things.
So when I chanced upon Folr, a location-tracking application that gives real-time information on the whereabouts of family members and loved ones that you “follow”, it took me a while to get past my mental block.
But as I pondered about the usefulness of the app, I realised that technology can also be used to draw people closer, and to aid us in daily life. A few scenarios popped into my mind:
- When I want to locate my baby-sitter who’s due to be home with the kids soon.
- For peace of mind in knowing that my granny’s helper who’s bringing granny to her hospital check-up is at the right place.
- When I’m wondering what time the hubby will be home, so that dinner is ready (and still warm) when he gets home.
I’ve been playing around with the app, and find it easy to use and pretty intuitive overall. The most important/useful thing is, it allows users to decide whether to accept / deny the request to follow. That means users have complete autonomy.
Since no one can force your child (or spouse for that matter) to be followed, you will have to help your followee understand that it’s for mutual benefit and convenience. I reckon that the relationship first needs to be marked by trust and openness as well.
Another useful feature is that the followee can choose not to be followed during certain timeslots in a day, or on certain days. So for instance, if you’re travelling and prefer to have your GPS turned off. Or if you’re shopping for a surprise gift for your spouse, then obviously you wouldn’t want to be tracked at that moment in time. (See time and day settings in the second pic above)
But what about the safety of my loved ones? What if my phone gets hijacked by someone else?
The good news is, there is a web interface in the making that will allow for forced logoff from the web. There, you will be able to delete all your followings while keeping the app running, so that you can still see the location of your phone.
Will I be able to estimate when my spouse or child is going to arrive home from work or school?
This feature isn’t available now, but ETA (estimated time of arrival) and speed of movement are advanced features that will likely be built into the next version of the app.
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I think working parents who have babysitters at home will find this app handy. Schools and other organisations can also use the app to mark student or group member attendance at events!
If you’re keen to have a peace of mind from knowing where your loved ones are, here are 3 simple steps to take:
- Download Folr FOR FREE from the Google Play Store or App Store
- Activate location-based services for Folr in your devices’ “Settings”.
- Open Folr to create an account and login.
Repeat as necessary for as many other devices as you would like to track. Thereafter, you can start adding group members, or starting a new group.
Do note that the FOLR app is currently free, and allows you to check the current location of your followees. If you need to view their detailed location history, the yearly subscription fee is S$38.98.
Do give it a shot, and let me know what you think!
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