Introduction
The prevalence of affordable smartphones has brought internet access to people of all ages. At the same time, new developments in monitoring apps have allowed parents to monitor and control their kids’ online activity, and businesses can improve productivity by ensuring employees don’t waste time at work on games and social media apps.
This is all done through control software which monitors and reports on online behavior, and also has the benefit of allowing tracking of the target device location.
This is extremely valuable to parents who want to keep in touch with kids outside the home. It also enables business managers to keep track of employees working outside their base, on the road for example, and it can also assist individuals who have lost their phone or had it stolen.
In general, there are no legal or ethical considerations provided the parents, employers, etc are open about location tracking. Parents should explain the situation to their children openly and employers should include it in employee handbooks when they start work, so no one feels it is secret surveillance.
How to Track a Phone’s Location?
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Using Built-in Phone Features (Find My Device & Find My iPhone)
Both Android and iOS have features that allow tracking and locating a phone.
For Android, the best free app is Google Find My Device. Provided you can access the target’s Google account, this app allows you to track it in just three simple steps:
Download and install the app on another phone. Next, enter the target’s Gmail account and log in. Provided the target phone is turned on and has WiFi or data, you can see its current location in real time.
Find My is an app built into all iPads, iPhones, and iPods.To use it, you need to access another device that is already signed in with the same Apple ID. You can then select the target iPhone from the list of devices shown on the app and see its current location.
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Network-Based Tracking
A cellphone’s location can be tracked by using the service-providers network, by techniques like triangulation which measures signals from cell towers to find the device location, although this can lack pinpoint accuracy.
The various parental control apps use GPS location tracking which is more accurate. WIFI can also be used if the device is connected to a fixed WIFI signal, but not if it is using a data plan.
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Third-Party Apps for Phone Tracking
There are a number of third-party apps that are useful in phone tracking. Three of the most popular are Life360, Glympse, and FollowMee.
Life360 and Glympse are location-sharing apps that need to be installed on the monitoring phone and the target phones, so location details can be shared.
The FollowMee app is designed for iPhones and offers location tracking, location sharing and geofencing. After installing the app on the target phone, its location can be viewed through the app or on the FollowMee website.
The Best Solution – FamiGuard Pro
Regarded as a top-rated one-stop shop for parental control and monitoring, FamiGuard Pro offers unbeatable features for tracking a phone location.
FamiGuard Pro is an advanced parental control app that enables parents to view all activity on their child’s devices and to track a phone in real time, along with its location history.
FamiGuard Pro monitors all social media apps, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, and TikTok. Supporting Android, iOS, and iCloud monitoring, it has over 43 monitoring features.
Key Features of FamiGuard Pro for Location Tracking
Real-Time GPS Tracking
Using GPS, FamiGuard Pro provides the target phone’s exact street address on Google Maps and Mapbox. Location tracking is in real-time and is continually updated to show the phone’s location
Location history and geofencing alerts
The geofencing feature allows parents to designate an area for their child to stay within, and instant alerts are received if the phone moves outside the area. The app also provides location history so parents can keep an eye on where the kids have visited recently.
Stealth mode for discreet monitoring
FamiGuard Pro works in stealth mode, meaning that the target device can be tracked without the user knowing – FamiGuard Pro is undetectable.
How to Set Up FamiGuard Pro for Location Tracking
Setting up FamiGaurd for location tracking involves just 3 simple steps.
- Register on the Famiguard website and choose the preferred subscription plan – for 1 month, 3 months, or 1 year.
- Follow the detailed setup guide to download, install, and configure the FamiGuard Pro app.
- When the app has been successfully installed, just navigate to the user-friendly dashboard. The target phone location will be shown on a map, and the geofencing option is available on the menu on the left.
There are some additional features to assist in location tracking:
- Auto-sync locations
This allows the user to see if the phone’s GPS is switched off, by automatically syncing changed locations to online.
- WIFI logger
This shows the WIFI connections the device connects to with date and location stamps.
- Search function
This handy function searches for the target phone including recent locations visited, saving individual location checking.
Additional Benefits of Using FamiGuard Pro
More than just phone location tracking, FamiGuard Pro offers some great additional benefits for control and monitoring.
Screen time management and app blocking
The screen time report on the dashboard gives an accurate report of app usage, showing how long the kids have spent on their phones.
The screen time function allows parents to limit the amount of time the child can spend online. Parents can define the day and maximum time the device can be used, allowing time for homework or outdoor activities.
Parents can also block specific apps, games and social media sites. The dashboard shows which apps have been installed on the phone, and these can be blocked or uninstalled remotely.
Web filtering and online activity monitoring
Famiguard Pro helps kids use the internet safely with web filtering. By enabling the web filter function on the dashboard parents can allow access only to child-friendly content. This automatically avoids inappropriate websites and adult sites, with harmful images and content.
With real time tracking, parents can easily see what the kids have been viewing on screen together with screenshots and recent history.
Social media and message monitoring for child safety
Monitoring social media access is an important feature, and parents get a detailed report of visited apps and media files viewed to stay informed about the content the child is watching.
Famiguard Pro tracks text messages in apps like Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp and more. It also records voice calls on apps such as WhatsApp, Skype, Discord, and more.
Final Thoughts
There are several methods for phone location tracking. Google Find my Device and Find My iPhone are both quite good and are completely free, which is an added benefit. The third party apps are also accurate, and are location sharing apps, which means that they are detectable and reveal not only the target phone but also the device used to locate it.
Using the phone network is also free, but less accurate and usually only gives an approximate area, not a specific address.
A parental control app like FamiGuard Pro stands out as the optimum phone tracker, because not only does it show the location, but also the location history and allows for geofencing, a feature that enables parents to keep an eye on their kids movements outside the home.
FamiGuard Pro does not offer a free trial, but each feature has a free demo on the website, so potential purchasers can see how the app works before deciding. People thinking about location tracking or parental control in general are encouraged to try this, since it is an important investment in children’s safety not just online but out in the real world, and is a decision that should not be taken lightly.
