is there any more input on this subject ? thanks.
Is anyone using a small GPS tracker to keep track of dogs and cats, or hidden in your car ?
and able to track on an App on your smartphone ?
what are you using ?
are there any good ones from chinese sellers ?
budget !! thanks
edit and adding link to product. is it a scam, or could it work
here’s a quote
As we said before, TrackR has unlimited possibilities. The device is small and unobtrusive enough that you can attach it to your pet. Put it on their collar, and the issue of searching for them as they scamper off to nearby places will be over! Attach it to your keys and wallet, and never waste a minute rummaging the whole house for it.
TrackR even comes with a double-sided adhesive so you can stick it to your laptop or under your bike seat. Track down and punish the thieves who steal your expensive things! —— unquote——
so how does the find my phone App work on my iphone ??
Maybe you are already aware, but gps alone cannot send data anywhere. You would have to add a sim card with cellular data coverage (:money_mouth_face: and charge the battery quite often
I think that budget GPS trackers are not available due to the fact that although you can obtain the position information very easily through satellites and GPS modules, there is no ‘budget’ way to send that information to a cell phone app. Sending the information requires some type of cell communication (think cellular) or a bluetooth connection. Bluetooth/wifi would work well but is limited by the range of each respectively. If you use bluetooth or wifi there is no point using a GPS tracker because you are probably able to physically see what you are keeping track of! Sorry for the lengthy post but the budget GPS trackers that you are looking for may leave you disappointed.
The tile (and similar) use smartphones to log last known postions of items. It isn’t really active tracking, and won’t be much help finding moving objects (like pets or cars). It can be a lifesaver for your keys though.
i wonder how a smartphone could detect where an item would be.
i added this link to the OP. it’s a tracking product.
does it look like it would work ?
the tile appears to use bluetooth.
the tile (apparently) needs to be in bluetooth range of a phone with an app installed.
what is the range of bluetooth on a iphone 6 ??
are there any amps that will extend the range ??
thanks in adv
it seems the tile uses bluetooth to tell the phone where it is at, and tell any phone that has the app installed.
to find a lost or stolen item, it must come near to a phone with the app installed.
“it seems the tile uses bluetooth to tell the phone where it is at, and tell any phone that has the app installed.
”to find a lost or stolen item, it must come near to a phone with the app installed.
am i correct, do i have this right ??”
==that is pretty much it… not sure the phone has to have the app installed, there may be something built in to android or ios to automatically do this kind of thing
—it has GPS to find the location, then gsm to text messages or maybe email you (ie, needs some kind of voice or text data plan to send messages)
EDIT
i think it does not send messages but you can call/text it and it will send you back its location
it only lasts about a week on a battery on standby
has to have phone service as well as reception
I tried one of those cheap GPS locators with GSM support, when you call the number in it, it responds with a SMS text message with the coordinates. it can also be programmed with a timer, movement detection to start tracking, etc. More advanced models use celular data to send real time coordinates through a server.
The battery life is poor but you can always add 18650s to it
The tile just beebs when you search it via Bluetooth and has limited range. The app tells you how close you are from it by signal strength. The range and battery life is actually very impressive.
The “GPS locator” thing in the tile and similar devices is just a software gimmick all done by the phone.
the tile just beebs when you search it via Bluetooth and has limited range. The app tells you how close you are from it by signal strength. The range and battery life is actually very impressive.
The “GPS locator” thing in the tile and similar devices is just a software gimmick all done by the phone.
no, the tile is always ‘advertising’ itself via Bluetooth Smart -“here i am. this is my serial number”
what happens is, phones (anyone’s) can pick this up in a shortish range, maybe 50-100 feet
the phones have GPS so they know where they are, the lost thing is within 50 feet of the phone, the phone app calls up the worldwide tile database, sees that that tile number is ‘lost’ and notifies the owner of time and location
That is the real limiting factor, because only a tiny part of the population use it. It means the Tile is already very useful in population-dense places like NYC and many foreign countries, but almost useless in rural areas where only 1 or 2 people might be using the app. It will never be good for a moving object like a pet.
will it work if a phone is running any proximity-based app though?
i know ‘proximity’ is a standard bluetooth low energy / bluetooth smart profile
so i would hope than any proximity based app that sees a tile, can send its data to the tile master web site…
you are saying no it can’t?
as common as it is becoming, there is still not a universal handling standard like GPS. When the phone ‘sees’ the tile tag, it has to have instructions from the app to search for location then upload that to Tile’s server.
