Our last post did not generate much discussion, but was successful in raising concerns for our safety with our family and friends. A lot of it stemmed from pictures such as the one above that suggested remote locations. In line with that, some of the discussion on the different social media forums veered towards how people ensure that their whereabouts is known in case of an emergency, so we wanted to share with you a few of these suggestions and add a few of our own.
Of course, the simplest way is to let a few people know where you are going and for how long. However, if you want to share your location fairly accurately and in a time sensitive manner, there are several way that you can do that, either on an on-going basis, temporarily, or just in the event of an emergency.
If you are slightly paranoid about your privacy or sharing your location. This post may not be for you.
Location Sharing on Google Maps
Location sharing on Google Maps can either work constantly in the background as long as your phone is on, or you can select an option to share your location when Google Maps is open on you phone. You can also choose whether to share for a certain amount of time, or all the time. If you choose to share all the time with app refresh in the background you will need a strong battery, but it’s a good option if you tend to forget to let people know where you are (guilty). Note, that if your phone turns off because the battery died it may default to another setting. This feature allows those you share your location with to see where you are in real time. It also shows your battery level, an important factor if there is a search going on.
Follow these simple steps to activate location sharing on Google Map
Location Sharing on WhatsApp:
You can share you location on WhatsApp, with an option of a static location share, or live location sharing (live location for 15 minutes, 1 hour, or 8 hours).
Follow these simple steps to share your location on WhatsApp:
- open a conversation with a friend or group,
- tap on the plus button (located on bottom left corner of your screen) ,
- select Location and then tap on Share Live Location.
- Select how long you want to share your location.
You can stop sharing at any time. You can also select “send your current location” which is supposed to be accurate to 65m.
Find My phone
You can set up chosen people to be able to activate “Find My Phone” and ping your phone if they can’t find you in any other way. It’s very effective and also very loud…I know because I used it when I lost my phone at a busy car show in Detroit. I found the phone nestles between the seats of a Cruze. The sales people on the floor where going crazy trying to figure out where the noise is coming from.
Follow these instruction for Apple products. You can also activate Find My Phone through your Google account.
GPS/Beacon Tracker Paid Services
These are services that you need to subscribe to. There are many options and below are a couple of them. They may have added value such as locating your RV if stolen, or monitoring your pet.
- Spot is one example for a paid service. You can send location as well as messages and distress SOS.
- BeWhere is a beacon type service that will track you RV’s location, so there is double benefit in case it is stolen. You can also monitor the temperature in the RV if you are leaving a pet inside. This one is in Canada, but there are many companies out there.
Location Sharing Apps:
Several apps that allow you to quickly send your location. Some are free, but there are others ones that you need to pay a small amount and have a few more functions. We did not test any of these, so we can’t recommend them. Please comment below if you have any experience with any of them.
S.O.S Apps:
These apps send out an SOS alert to your chosen contact. We did not test any of these, so we can’t recommend them. Please comment below if you have any experience with any of them.
Emergency SOS on iPhone:
Pressing the side button on your iPhone activates an SOS button on your phone. You can also add emergency contacts and health information.
Follow these instructions to to use SOS on iPhone
We looked for the simplest, most effective ways to share a location or alert an emergency response. Hopefully one of these methods will work for you.
If you have any other suggestions on how you ensure that, if needed, you or your RV can be found as quickly as possible, please share in the comments below.
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