Android GPS tracker

bl1289

Dryer sheet wannabe
Joined
Sep 23, 2013
Messages
18
Location
Vancouver, WA
Hello

People I know who use Apple are generally pleased with the trackers you put in a suitcase.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a tracker that works with Android and is reliable?
I have had Tracki for a couple of years and it works erratically. I called support several times today and got conflicting info, and have had about enough of it and ready to switch to something else if I can find one that works well. Basically I was told that it only works reliably if it is outside with a GPS signal. One person told me it used cellular as backup, another told me it didn't use cellular but did use wifi, but could not explain how to configure wifi. Also I travel several times a year and would like to turn this on when travelling and off when done. Tracki can not be turned off via internet - must make a call to turn it off, which annoys me. seems like a goal of the device is to report its position when inside an airport building or other building.

thank you

Ben
 
Tracki incorporates GPS so is entirely different from Apple’s AirTag which uses Bluetooth and the universe of Apple devices to accomplish tracking. Basically with AirTags you actually track the device that is close to the AirTag. Tile is similar to AirTags. With any device incorporating GPS, you need visibility to at least 3 satellites to get a good track, buildings tend to inhibit access to satellites which is why even Apple has fallbacks to wifi and cellular site locations. Devices with GPS tend to be bigger because of power needs.
 
As mentioned above, check out Tile. Their trackers work with either Apple or Android phones and are very well known and have been around for years. They are the main competitor to the Apple AirTag.
 
Thank you. I will checkout Tile. Understood that GPS only works well outside. I understood that Tracki is supposed to use either cellular or wifi as backup (the support reps I spoke to yesterday contradicted each other as to which it has). The Tracki does not seem to perform well even in areas with moderate GPS signal and good WiFi and cellular. If it was somewhat off on position I would understand, but I keep seeing "last update 1 hour ago" in areas where it should readily be able to get some kind of signal. I paid for the service to update every minute.
 
This only works with a Samsung Galaxy Android phone, but I have one and it's been great the few times I have needed it.

 
In case this isn't understood, the Tile tracker does NOT use GPS. It connects via Bluetooth to any nearby phone running their app, and then gets the GPS co-ord from that phone, and updates the Tile owner (in the background). Read reviews, but I'd guess there are far fewer active Tile apps running, so if you are trying to track something far from you, your odds of someone running the Tile app and being in range might be too slim to be useful?
 
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