How do I add my other devices to my phone so I can track them?
Family Tracker needs to be installed on each device you would like to track.
First download the application on your other phones and the tablets and make sure that you have created accounts for each one of them (validated the email addresses, etc.) At this point you can start adding them to your phone to track.
There are 2 ways to track a device:
1. Track someone from your phone.To set this up, add them in the list on the "Locate Others" tab. When you are adding them, make sure to use the same email address that they used to register their account with Family Tracker (the one they have on the "Settings" tab). As soon as you hit save, the other phone will get a Family Tracker notification (in the notification bar). Click on it. That will present you with a message with two buttons: "Accept" and "Deny". Hit "Accept". At this point you can now track that phone from your phone. You will see that the orange question mark next to their name will turn to a green check mark on your phone.
2. Track someone via the web.Install the Family Tracker application only on the phone you want to track and then use our website to track it and send free messages. To do this, your email address needs to be added under the "Locate Me" tab of the Family Tracker application on the phone you want to track. Then you will automatically get an email with instructions how to track the phone via the web.
The appplication needs to be installed on each phone you would like to track. But you do not have to purchase it for all of the phones provided that you are installing it on devices belonging to your family memebers. With one purchase per platform (Android or iOS) you can install it on all family devices:
No. Once you have purchased the application you can install and uninstall it as many times as you want. If you reset your phone or buy a new device, as long as you use the same Google Checkout Account (Google email) to set the phone up again, you can download all applications you had purchased before for free, including Family Tracker.
If you set up your phone with the same account again, just find the Family Tracker application on the Play Store again and it will say "Purchased" at the top right of the screen. Click on that button and it will download to your phone.
You can have more than one Google account on the same device. If your old account that you used to purchase the app with is no longer your primary account, you can still add it to the device. Please follow these instructions. Once done you will be able to download and install the app again from the Google Play store without having to pay.
If for whatever reason you no longer have access to the Gmail account you originally used to purchase the app with, then purchase it again, and let us know. We will cancel the old purchase and issue you a full refund. That way you will not have to pay twice and you will still be getting all the application updates.
Make sure that the "Auto report location" checkbox is selected in the settings screen of the Family Tracker application.
If the tracked device is running Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) and above, the Family Tracker app should be excluded from the battery optimization on the phone. To do that you need to add the app to the battery "Not optimized" list of applications. Go to Settings -> Battery -> Battery Optimization, select "All apps" , find the Family Tracker app in the list and click on it, then select "Don't optimize" and hit "Done".
From the home screen of the phone go to:
Menu -> Settings -> Location & Security
and make sure that both "Use wireless networks" and "Use GPS satellites" are checked.
Besides using the GPS and Cell Tower Triangulation, the application can obtain the current location using the available wireless access points around as well. Enable the the Wi-Fi on the device whenever possible.
Family Tracker obtains the best accuracy the device (phone or tablet) can provide at the time it was requested. A device can obtain its location via the GPS radio, via the cell towers (cell tower triangulation) or via its Wi-Fi radio using the location of the access points around.
The GPS is very accurate but slow and unreliable. It has to communicate with 4 different GPS satellites in order to be able to calculate its location. It might not be able to get a lock on its location if there are a lot of obstructions of the sky. A location reported via the GPS will be indicated with a small circle (if any) on the map, since its accuracy is very high.
The cell tower triangulation is quicker than the GPS, but with low accuracy. The phone uses its radio to communicate to 3 different cell towers in order to calculate its approximate location. A location reported by the cell tower triangulation will be indicated with a bigger blue circle on the map at its accuracy is low.
If the device's Wi-Fi is enabled it will be used to obrain the current location instead of using the cell tower triangulaton. This method is very quick as well and it is more accurate than the cell tower triangulation. A location reported by the Wi-Fi will be indicated with a smaller blue circle on the map, since its accuracy noramally is high.
Family Tracker uses all three of these methods to find the location of the phone. If the GPS fails to find a location, then we fall back on the cell tower triangulation or the Wi-Fi radio (if enabled). That provides the best possible balance between accuracy and dependability.
There are cases when the device might not be able to obtain its current location through any of the possible three methods. Then the last known location of the device is reported.
Make sure that the data is enabled on the remote phone and that it has access to the Internet:
From the home screen (hit the "Home" button to get there) of his phone go to:
Menu -> Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> Mobile Networks
and make sure that "Data Enabled" and "Data Roaming" are both checked. Now start a browser and make sure that the phone has access to the Internet.
If the above was completed, and the remote phone still cannot receive your pings then in very rare situations it is possible that the other phone's Google Notification ID was unregistered. Follow one of the two possible ways to renew the Google Notification ID:
1. Uninistall Family Tracker and install it again on the remote phone (your settings will be kept and you do not have to re-establish the tracking requests again).
2. Clear the application data:
Menu -> Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications
Find Family Tracker in the list and click on it. Then in the new screen click the "Clear data" button and confirm with "OK" in the confirmation dialog. Last, start the Family Tracker application!
First, make sure that the other phone has Family Tracker installed and that the email address used to register it has been validated.
If the above was completed, but the phone still does not receive the request, please follow the instructions in the question above: "My pings are no longer being received by the remote phone?"
Check the "spam" folders in your mailboxes, in case your email provider moved the messages there. If they're not there, either try to add the address "FamilyTrackerRobot@logsat.com" in your list of allowed senders, or try using a different email address to see if you receive them.
Even though it sounds obvious, check the spelling of your email address in Menu -> Settings.
If you would like to have the email resent to your email address again, once you reopen the Family Tracker application it will present a dialog that will give you the option to "Resend Email".
"Family Tracker" is meant as a tool to keep track of family members and friends. It is not a tool to spy on users.
Averyone you request to track has to explicitly allow you to do so by accepting your request. The app also presents a persistent notification, which clearly shows the user that the Family Tracker on the phone is present and it shows the status of the app: enabled or disabled. See the answer to the question "How do I add my other devices to my phone so I can track them?".
The Netowrk Error dialog will be displayed only if the application had a problem connecting the server.
This will normally happen due to a problem with your internet connection. Please make sure that your device has an access to the internet and try again.
Family Tracker requires Android version 4.0 and up. That is because the older versions of Android do not provide the necessary technology to make Family Tracker possible.
If the device is running an older Android version, then it will not be able to even see Family Tracker on the Play Store. This is done on purpose, so that you do not buy an application that will not work on the device.
You can check if there is an over-the-air upgrade available for you phone by going to Settings -> About phone -> System update. If such is not available, you need to contact your cell phone provider or the phone manufacturer to get instructions how to upgrade your device.
Please take a look at our iOS FAQ's.
Follow these instructions from your phone or from your computer.