Ways to Live Track?

[Shaun Allatt]

Can anyone help me and answer some questions about Live Tracking on different devices/apps?
To Live Track with a Garmin do you have to have an Edge 510/810 and use bluetooth with a smartphone, or can you Live Track any Garmin Edge with a computer on Garmin Connect, and are there any good apps for smartphones that have Live Tracking features? I don't want to particularly know my son's speed, altitude etc. just where he is in live time with no delay.
Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks.

 

[Jon2]

I don't think I can answer all those questions, but since nobody else is here I'll answer what I can.
Edge 200 and 500 don't have any kind of wireless internet or bluetooth, (I don't think the 800 does either) so it won't be able to do live tracking. I think that's only on the new 510 and 810.
The Iphone and probably other smart phones can do live tracking, for Iphone there is an app called find friends which does this.
Any type of live tracking will require an internet connection, which won't be available everywhere. It could also use a lot of battery life on the phone.

 

[GlasgowFinn]

Jon2 is correct - the edge 800 has no live tracking.

I have the edge 800 but I also use cyclemeter on my iphone. It allows live tracking but you can also switch the screen off so you can get an extended battery life.

 

[yello]

just where he is in live time with no delay.

It can be done, that's for sure. Garmin Edge 510 and 810 offer it BUT it seems (to me anyway) a bit of a 'proof of concept' on that platform rather than being anything reliable.

There are a number of smartphone apps that offer a live tracking solution but you will have to consider battery life and data cost. And of course that your son may not always have a signal. Any failure on those fronts (i.e. battery, data or signal) could actually result in you becoming more concerned than is necessary. You might want to reconsider your requirements for real time updates because whilst it is do-able in theory, in practice there will be failure at times. Better not to have the expectation in the first place, imho.

 

[kipster]

I use Endomondo on the smart phone and the wife tracks me live, usually I have a cup of tea waiting when I get home. Yello has a point about getting concerned if there are no updates, I once stopped endomondo when I got a puncture and forgot to restart it, unfortunately the wife was concerned as I got the puncture just outside the hospital.

 

[matthat]

I've not read all thread cos I'm in work and just being quick but live tracking can be done on google latitude on smartphone and either tracked on another phone or a pc!!

 

[aerobrain]

I've used Map My Ride app on my Android phone on my last few long rides. Works really well but like people have said it's reliant on signal, battery etc.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

calling @Rob3rt
he'll know the answer in detail for you.