Google Maps Latitude?

[Dan.Droid]

These will probably be stupid questions, but here they go anyway.

Is there any point to Latitude beyond you and your friends sharing your location all the time?

Since I have no friends that are currently using Latitude, is there any point to me using it?

How would I go about adding friends to Latitude? Will contacts in my phone automatically be added if they start using it?

I have to imagine it would drain the battery faster than not having it on, am I right on that?

That's all I can think of for now. Thanks in advance for your patience.

 

[MrTommy]

Not for me

I've not found any real reason for even trying this. What in the world do I want anyone knowing my every move for? This is the stuff they use for tracking child molesters isn't it? Ha.

I remember a couple years ago, several of my friends (we're all truckers) had enV2 phones with that GPS tracking option set up, so they could keep track of each other. It showed location and speed. Well, turns out the safety man somehow found out about this and began randomly checking out the drivers who had this activated (with his own phone). One guy got a three day suspension for driving over the company speed limit (he was doing 70 downhill). That ended any inkling of doing this on my part!

 

[Backnblack]

It's a cool app me and the wife use...I check to see where she is on her commute if I need her to pick up something on the way home...like for dinner. Or if she's letting her phone goto VM, I check to see if she's downtown in the courthouse and the phone is in the car....

 

[Varking]

My mother who worries too much makes my father track me every now and again when it is snowing here in NC to make sure I make it to my fiance's house just fine. It is a bit silly but it is better then her calling every five minutes to find out where I am at.

 

[MrTommy]

My post was not to say I'm not impressed with the technology. I think it's mind boggling what we can do these days.

 

[Backnblack]

My post was not to say I'm not impressed with the technology. I think it's mind boggling what we can do these days.

Very true, But just as anything, there are those that will twist it for their benefit.

 

[bgreen82]

would my wife be able to tell if im at the strip club?

 

[nitsuj]

I've found it to be completely unreliable. As I type this, mine had me about 5 miles east of my actual location. After a refresh, it located me sort of close to where I actually am, but now shows my brother in the exact same spot 5 miles east of here that it showed me in a few minutes ago. He's not there either. So have fun in the strip club. ;-) If anyone other than my brother was using it, I'd just turn it off. He and I use it to mess with and check to see if it works well. If I felt my moves were being tracked, I'd not participate.

 

[bigtmonee]

Yeah I was going to start my own thread as to the main attraction to using this app. Couldn't really think of any.

 

[Backnblack]

I've found it to be completely unreliable. As I type this, mine had me about 5 miles east of my actual location. After a refresh, it located me sort of close to where I actually am, but now shows my brother in the exact same spot 5 miles east of here that it showed me in a few minutes ago. He's not there either. So have fun in the strip club. ;-) If anyone other than my brother was using it, I'd just turn it off. He and I use it to mess with and check to see if it works well. If I felt my moves were being tracked, I'd not participate.

If on agps then you can be off by a lot
If on gps, It should be spot on.....

 

[MrTommy]

Spot on if you're standing still

Yeah, I've found that if I use the GPS satellite setup, it IS spot on for where I am. And for just that reason, why would you not use the satellite setting?

I'm talking about just using the mapping thing, not the latitude thing.

And, like others have attested to, in fairly short order I run off the map. My little blue indicator is moving along on the blue and white background. Actually, I think this happens more when using the satellite picture than the bare map.

 

[Dan.Droid]

So, basically there's no real point to it beyond your friends (and family and bosses, etc) keeping track of each other. Yeah..... I think I'll pass on that.

My maps will sometimes also be off by a considerable amount, but I've noticed that it is always when I am indoors. The moment I step outside, it snaps to my accurate position. So, I assume that it is just interference from the buildings I am in.

 

[Dan.Droid]

And, like others have attested to, in fairly short order I run off the map. My little blue indicator is moving along on the blue and white background. Actually, I think this happens more when using the satellite picture than the bare map.

Mine does that occasionally. If I zoom out a level (or 2), it usually stops doing that.

 

[Mr Steve]

I use it. Comes in handy at times.

It's a 2.5 hour drive to my sister's house. While her phone won't run Lattitude, it is available on a PC through her iGoggle (or whatever it's called) page. With the Droid in the car it's plugged into power so I don't mind running the GPS. Plus the navigation, even though I know the way, may let me know if there's a traffic snarl up ahead. Nothing yet, thankfully. Regardless she knows where I am and I avoid the 'where are you' phone calls that interrupt my Pandora streaming on the trip down.

Would I let it run 24/7 - no. The GPS, which is required to get any decent fix, would drain the battery much too quickly. In the office I pop the Droid into the MM Dock, but I can't get a GPS fix through the roof. Plus I don't need her tracking me unless there's a valid reason to do so.

Since it's just a layer on the Map app it's easy enough to toggle on & off. While I can think of a couple of other situations where it might come in handy I mainly use it going to & fro my sister's house. Now if I still had the boat it might be a nice safety net just in case. I guess the same thing would apply during any land or water based trip. If something goes sideways there's a track of where I am. Worse case scenario someone at home could send out the calvary to rescue me if needed. Just don't rely on it without the GPS turned on.

Or you can spend the money and buy a SPOT SATELLITE MESSENGER :: HOME PAGE Spot Messenger to track you. Caveat: Spot works where cell phones don't. I'm not planning on heading anywhere quite that remote.

 

[Antonio Loveless]

I happen to like Latitude!

First, I think you have to be accepted by another person before they can start viewing your every move. Even so, if you don't want to be 'tracked', just log out lol.

For the most part I've used it with a number of my friends and family. When we're out at the bars and clubs, no need to step out to give directions, "hit me up on latitude!" It's a lot of fun for bar hopping and house parties. Other then that, mine usually is not on unless I'm messing with it now and then.