4mo ago

Alternative to Google Maps location sharing / Apple FindMy

Is there a European alternative to Apple FindMy or GoogleMaps location tracking that allows you to share your location with each other?

I would be very grateful for any tips.

21 comments

I use osmand and send simple plaintext coordinates: 45.89873° N, 15.94801° E
If you mean continuous location sharing, there's a tracker plugin for osmand which (sadly) uses Telegram. Haven't tried it, but if it's encrypted (as Telegram chat isn't by default), could be good.
- Why’s it a bad thing that it uses telegram? How else could they have implemented it? They obviously can’t use their own servers
  
  For me, it's a bad thing because I won't install it on my phone. Same with anything Zuckerberg's.
Paralino is based in Germany. It's an end-to-end encrypted geolocation sharing app that is quite new. They said they will open source their code further in their roadmap. It's available on both iOS and Android!
- Paralino looks great 👍
  
  It's quite new so maybe not as feature-packed but it might worth to bet on them cuz their app does looks great I agree!
https://github.com/Rezivure/Grid-Mobile
Matrix allows for time-based location sharing. The Element clients have it implemented.
Also Nextcloud with the Phonetrack application installed. I use the uLogger app on Android for 24x7 location recording and it uses less than 2% of the battery over a day.
- Can I set the sharing to permanent?
  
  In Element, no.
  In Nextcloud, yes.
Has anybody tried https://mygrid.app/ ?
Aprs.fi
A bit if a joke. Aprs is a common protocol amateur radio operators use to share their location.
The site mentioned is a popular site that displays said data.
I too was trying to find alternatives to these services but I could not.
I saw a github "thread" ones for organic maps, but it did not get traction... They could make it a paid service as that are trusted by the community to handle that data.
There was a new application, I do not remember the name of it... But it was using google play services which I did not add to my OS.
I found the app through howtomen's YouTube channel, let me know if you need it, I will search for it.
Edit: If you have the skills, you could setup/self-host owntracks, which I could not do, securely.
- Probably Paralino
  
  Correct.
https://ticeapp.com/en/
- what led you to recommend that? it appears to be closed-source abandonware (last updated in 2021) and has very negative reviews on google play.

21 comments