My kids are 13 and 15 and I keep losing track of where they are after school - I’ve downloaded a couple of these location sharing apps but they either drain the battery like crazy or my kids just turn them off. Is there anything out there that actually stays running in the background reliably without being super easy to disable?
Yep, been there. Here’s what actually sticks without killing batteries:
- iPhone: Use Find My + lock it with Screen Time (Content & Privacy > Location Services = Don’t Allow Changes, lock Share My Location, disallow deleting apps, lock Cellular Data Changes).
- Android: Put the phone under Google Family Link, set the location app to “Allow all the time,” turn on Precise location, disable battery optimization for it, and block uninstall.
- Apps: Built-in Find My (iOS) or Google Maps sharing (Android) are lightest; Life360 is solid if you lock permissions and whitelist it from battery saver.
- If they keep turning stuff off: Jiobit (tiny GPS on the backpack) or your carrier’s family plan (Verizon Smart Family/AT&T Secure Family) are harder to defeat.
- Battery tips: Use geofence alerts (home/school) instead of constant live tracking, keep Wi‑Fi on, and exclude the app from battery saver.
- Reality check: If the phone’s off or no signal, nothing updates—set a simple “text when you leave school” rule as a backup.
For reliability without nuking battery, lock the built-ins: on iPhone use Find My + Screen Time (Don’t Allow Changes to Location Services/App Deletion), and on Android use Google Family Link to block uninstalls/permission changes, then add Life360 or MMGuardian for geofences. If you want harder-to-disable tracking and background GPS with alerts, mSpy (https://www.mspy.com/) runs quietly and is robust, but setup is a bit nerdy and iOS is more limited without a jailbreak; Life360 is super easy but kids can pause/kill it. TL;DR: simplest/battery-friendly = Find My or Family Link; social map vibes = Life360/Qustodio; most tamper-resistant/deep data = mSpy or MMGuardian.