I have been toying around with Folr, a location-tracking app on my mobile for the past week. Folr provides real-time updates on the whereabouts of people you choose to track (and gotten their permission to do so):
Mainly, I have been using it to monitor my wife’s movement. It does come in handy. Yesterday, I tried to call her on her mobile, but the phone was switched off or had not network. I checked on Folr and found out she was last seen in our home at Toa Payoh 11 minutes ago. When I got back, I found out she was home all along, but her mobile had run out of battery. I wanted to check with her if I should head home for dinner, in the end, it worked out just right, thanks to Folr.
I can think of many other useful applications for Folr:
- Track the movement of spouses. Not just for catching cheating behaviours, but it can be useful to know each other’s respective location, especially if both are on the road a fair bit.
- Track your children’s movement. To monitor their safety and also to ensure they go for their tuition classes as scheduled.
- Locate an elderly with dementia or someone with the tendency to get lost. My grandmother-in-law tend to wander off on her own a lot. She can usually find her own way home, but it would be useful to be able to track her location at times. I remember once, there was a Singapore singer, Nat Ho, whose father went missing and is apparently suicidal. Folr would have been handy:
- Monitor your team of workers. This will be especially useful for bosses who need to dispatch their workers all over. The app will be useful to track if anyone is slacking.
If you are worried about privacy issues, Folr can only track someone if he or she gives you permission to do so. My wife was reluctant to let me track her movement at first, but was receptive when I told her we could mutually track each other.
Here are a few features of the app:
Compatible with all devices
Easily installed on any mobile device (smartphone or tablet) and operating system (iOS or Android)
Easy to use
Users can select whom they wish to follow straight from their phones’ contacts.
Follow and be followed
There are two lists, a list of those who the user follows, and a list of those who want to follow the user.
Detailed Location History
Users can review the detailed history of all the followed throughout the day and up to a whole year for USD 29.99.
Privacy guaranteed
The followed can activate or deactivate the days-of-week and the hours-of-day that their device can be tracked.
The free features should work just fine for general users who want to find out where a person’s last location was. The detailed location history is probably to cater to detectives, to catch cheating spouses or other more legalistic applications where you need a precise locations list and log.
My experience with Folr has been positive so far. It is very easy to use, intuitive and simple. You can download it and experience it for yourself. Folr is live and available for free download on both on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.