Location trackers for your iPhone
If you want to keep track of the places you have been, a location tracker or check-in app can offer a solution. This way you can see where you were on holiday last year and where you recently had a delicious meal. If you share your locations with others, you can also see where friends have been and maybe come up with fun ideas.
- Quantified Map
- Foursquare Swarm
- Checkie for Foursquare
- Without
- Arc App
- Visits Journal
- Geofency
- Gowalla
- Apple location tracking
- More apps
Quantified Map
With Quantified Map you can create personal maps of the places you have been. This way you get a visualization of the day. Quantified Map keeps track of where you have been, for how long and what activity you have undertaken to get to the next location (walking, cycling, driving, etc.). This happens in the background, collecting all useful metadata. You can then view that data in a list view and on a map, per day. You can possibly correct the data, for example if you have only been to a certain place for a very short time.
A positive thing about Quantified Map is the attention to privacy. The terms and conditions state that no personal information is collected and that each card is generated locally on your device. The data that the app retrieves from HealthKit, photos, Swarm and Strava) remains local on your device and remains your property. So it is not uploaded to a server and you can delete the data at any time. Due to this emphasis on privacy, there are no social functions. So you can’t see where your friends have been.
Foursquare Swarm
Swarm is already an veteran when it comes to checking in at locations. It is a spin-off from Foursquare, the service that provides location data to Apple, Snapchat, Spotify and Coca-Cola, among others. When you have arrived at a certain place, you can check in to record that you have been there. You can also earn points with this, but to be honest: it is not a competition. It is more about keeping track of previously visited locations. These can be hotels and restaurants, but also parks and airports. On a world map you can see which regions you have already been to. And if you return to a city you were in before, you can quickly see based on your check-in locations which parking garage was the best and where you can enjoy a nice meal. If you add photos you make it even easier for yourself, because then you can recall the memory at a glance.
Checkie for Foursquare
Do you use Swarm from Foursquare, but do you find checking in very cumbersome? Then it is better to use Checkie. This app has been around for years and works in a simple way: open the app and swipe to check in. This also happens in the background. You’ll also get suggestions for emoji to use at check-in. Checkie also offers some extras: you can check in privately, tag events and check in with Siri or the Apple Watch (including complications). You will also receive suggestions for frequently visited locations, so you can check in faster. Checkie also shows locations’ Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare profiles. The latest addition is widgets for the lock screen, which allow you to check in even faster.
An alternative is FastCheckin, which we mention in the list at the bottom of this article.
Without
The name of this app sounds Dutch, but it was created by a team of Americans. In this app you can see how many places you have visited, in how many countries and cities. You can also see how many kilometers you have traveled. The places you can visit include monuments, museums, restaurants and the like. On the Explore tab you can view a map of nearby places that may be of interest. If you visit such a place, you earn XP and rise on the leaderboard. You have to pause at a location for this, otherwise it doesn’t count. This prevents you from secretly collecting a lot of XP in places that you have only passed by quickly. You can view your trips over time and share your locations with others. There is also a timeline so you can review what you have done. You could also write this down in a diary app, but if you only care about locations, Zonder offers everything you are looking for.
Arc App
If you want a more complete picture of what you’ve done, Arc might be the solution. This automatically keeps track of where you have been, how you traveled there and what you did there. The app contains a learning engine that becomes smarter the more you use it. This way, the app can automatically detect whether you are cycling or running, without having to press a start button. Other means of transport such as train, plane and wheelchair are also automatically recognized, including skiing and snowboarding. You can look back in which cities and locations you have been and what you did there. You can download individual trips or complete days, weeks, months or years. You do this in standard GPX format so that you can analyze it further. In addition to the time in a location, you can also see the average calories burned, heart rate and more. Workouts are saved in Apple HealthKit and if you have used the Moves app in the past, you can also import the data from it. Also read our extensive review of Arc App.
Visits Journal
Visits Journal records the places you have been. The free app can also be used as a travel diary. Visits registers locations and gives you the opportunity to write down what you have done. The app also shows the photos you took during the day, to help you put your adventures on (digital) paper. You can write about your experiences, tell how much fun it was in a certain place (restaurant, bar, shop). You can express your experiences with text formatting, emoji, colors and a highlighter. There is also an iPad app to get a better overview of the places. Visits syncs everything between your devices via iCloud.
Geofency
If you want to use location tracking for professional activities, Geofency is an option. This app is more focused on time registration. The app automatically tracks your location on the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. You no longer have to manually check in at a certain location or start a timer. Geofency automatically records your arrival and departure times based on your GPS coordinates as soon as you leave a certain area. You can even control your smart home devices based on arrival and departure, for example switching the lights on and off. But Geofency is mainly intended for recording hours worked, visits to customers, lunch times and the like.
You can administer your hours afterwards, but of course you can also use it in your spare time to see, for example, how long you spend in the gym each week and whether it still makes sense to remain a member. You get a graphical representation of the places you’ve been, with statistics for days, weeks and months. You can also see on the map where you were. Export your data via iCloud, CalDAV or Exchange and then view it on your Mac or PC. All data remains local.
Gowalla
Gowalla is an app that was created at the same time as Foursquare, was acquired by Facebook and… the rest is history. As is often the case, Facebook quickly pulled the plug on Gowalla and there was not much left of the once popular app. But Gowalla is back after ten years, with a new business model. The rest has largely remained the same. Gowalla’s starting point is that people want to get in touch with each other locally, with the help of technology. You check in at a location that you share with trusted contacts. You can also see where your friends are hanging out. You can then meet up with them, but you can also try a restaurant based on recommendations from friends. If friends come there often, it must be good, right? Known locations appear on the map, while you can also add your own location. Furthermore, you can respond to friends’ check-ins and save points of interest so you can visit them later. The price of $40 per year for extra privileges is a bit on the high side.
Apple location tracking
Apple also has a key location feature on the iPhone that requires no action. Your device automatically keeps track of the places you have been and how long you stayed there. You cannot see which modes of transport you have used and the measurements are sometimes less accurate and detailed than the apps we discuss in this list, but it can be a solution if you wonder: where was I again? You can easily find the frequently visited locations via the Settings app of your iPhone. If you prefer not to do this, you can also disable the location functions. Google also keeps track of your locations, if you have enabled this.
More location trackers
There are even more location tracker apps that can help you record your location. They often have a slightly different approach than the one mentioned above:
- Gyroscope (Free + IAPiPhone/Watch, iOS 13.0+) – Gyroscope has a Places feature that maps travel destinations, places visited, and movement patterns. However, the app has a much broader approach: it helps you live longer with scientific insights and data from your Apple Watch. You can pay attention to food, sleep, sports and exercise.
- Qlaqs Route DayTracker (Free, iPhone, iOS 9.0+) – This German day tracker keeps track of where you have been during the day. Mainly aimed at time registration for people who visit customers, for example.
- Life Cycle – Track Your Time (Free + IAPiPhone/Watch, iOS 13.0+) – An app to map your habits, measure time and see where you’ve been. From the makers of Sleep Cycle. You can find Life Cycle in our list of time tracking apps.
- FastCheckin (€0.99, iPhone/WatchiOS 12.0+) – An app for faster check-in at Foursquare, as an alternative to Swarm and Checkie.
- FollowMee GPS Location Tracker (Free, iPhone/iPad, iOS 11.0+) – Install the app on an iPhone whose location you want to track precisely. Can be used as a spy app, so be careful.
Location tracker privacy
These types of apps can only work well if they are allowed to constantly track your location. This entails the risk that they can build up a fairly good profile of you: if you often go to the gym, you apparently like sports. And if you like to go to church, then you must be religious. This provides a lot of useful information about your hobbies, interests and behavior. You just have to trust the developer that it will be handled with care. It is therefore a personal decision whether you find the information you gather with such an app useful enough to give up some privacy.
A point of attention is that with apps from small developers you never know whether the app will eventually be taken over by a large company such as Google or Facebook. As a result, your data can still end up in the big grab bag.
If you are looking for an app that allows you to keep a holiday diary on the iPhone, we also have a suitable list for you. Take a look at apps like Polarsteps or Esplorio. To find your stuff, it is best to buy an AirTag and to find friends there are apps such as Find My.
