"Weighing the pros and cons of popular monitoring options"

Key Takeaways:

• GPS Trackers offer superior accuracy, reliability, and dedicated customer support, making them ideal for serious tracking needs like vehicle monitoring, asset protection, and personal safety.
• GPS Tracking Apps are convenient and affordable but can drain phone batteries quickly, have limited features, and rely on cell service, making them less reliable for critical tracking.
• Dedicated GPS trackers provide longer battery life, more accurate location data, and are less prone to interruptions, making them better suited for real-time tracking.

When using a GPS tracker to manage the whereabouts of family or business vehicles and assets, it's important to learn about the variety of GPS devices and systems available on the market. With the emergence of GPS tracking apps for cell phones, many consumers are wondering whether these alternatives to dedicated GPS tracking devices can meet their needs just as well. While there are similarities in the way these different types of devices can be used, there are distinct differences in their performance levels that users need to be aware of before getting started.

Before you choose the best GPS tracking method, it’s important to consider your tracking needs. GPS tracking has many applications, but its primary purpose is to allow users to receive ongoing, real-time location information about vehicles, assets, and people.

One of the most popular uses of GPS trackers is vehicle tracking. GPS trackers can be used on individual vehicles or fleets of vehicles that you own. Trackers for vehicles can be used to inform you about where the vehicle in question is and has been, where it has stopped and for how long, how fast it has traveled, and more. Some more advanced GPS trackers even allow users to access more detailed information like how much gas remains in the tank. Users can also set up speed alerts to be notified if a vehicle is driving unsafely and geofence alerts to track a vehicle’s movements outside of designated boundaries. These features are especially useful if the vehicle’s driver is an employee on a schedule or a teenager with limited driving skills. Vehicle owners are also able to access historical and real-time location information via computer or mobile device.

There are several applications when it comes to tracking the movements of other people, including parental tracking of children and teen tracking to ensure their safety. Those same geofences that are so useful in vehicle tracking are especially useful here: by setting geofences around predefined areas, parents can be alerted the moment their child makes it to school and back home safely or ensure that their teen driver isn’t veering too far from home. Speed alerts can also be set up to inform a parent when their new driver has exceeded a certain speed in the family car. All of this information and more is accessible remotely, giving parents confidence in the whereabouts and safety of their children.

Asset tracking is another common use for GPS trackers, especially among business users and those who wish to keep an eye on personal property and valuables that are in storage or being transported from one location to another. Asset trackers have been deployed to monitor the location and movement of big-ticket items, from jewelry to classic car collections. Motion-activated alerts let users know if an asset has been tampered with or is unexpectedly on the move, allowing users to identify a stolen asset’s location in real time for recovery.

GPS apps are designed to provide the benefits of GPS affordably as they utilize a device most people already own: a cell phone. Many users enjoy such benefits as tracking the shared locations of friends and family members, sharing their locations, and geotagging locations with photos and video to connect with other people in the same geographic area. 

Many of these GPS apps are designed for more social purposes than straightforward GPS tracking devices. Users who are looking for more serious GPS tracking find themselves noticing some common concerns.

According to the reviews of these popular apps, some of these are:

• Phones were not designed to run GPS continually, so it will drain the battery much faster than a normal phone on standby waiting for a call
• Apps are often limited to one specific functionality rather than offering a range of tracking features
• Background apps commonly slow down or shut off the GPS app
• Customer service is poor in comparison to the service provided by companies that offer dedicated GPS tracking devices
• Apps are often unreliable since cell phones are not designed to be tracking devices
• GPS apps rely heavily on cell phone signals rather than actual GPS satellite trackers, making location positioning much less accurate
• App drains phone battery too quickly
• Data service is required

Covert tracking is often faulty as most apps are designed to work both ways and require user permissions to function properly.; There are other concerns that users often have about GPS tracking apps, namely the question of whether to place the app directly on the phone of the person being tracked or on a burner phone hidden in a vehicle or bag. While one of the plus sides of using a burner phone is that the app is less likely to be interrupted or discovered, the downside is that a phone battery generally lasts for less than a day, making the tracking device largely ineffective for longer applications. Additionally, most apps have limited features that do not reflect the options available on dedicated tracking devices. At BrickHouse Security, we have considered the value of GPS tracking apps and have chosen to steer away from that market as dedicated GPS trackers have proven to be much more effective, overall.

GPS trackers are specifically designed for the purpose of providing real-time tracking information, and as such, boast a number of exceptional benefits that users cannot find from cell phone-based apps. These devices have hardware and software optimized for GPS tracking and reporting, making them highly accurate and functional. Many customers have reported benefits which include:

• Interruptions are not as likely since GPS trackers are not being used for external communication and do not have social connections
• Many dedicated GPS trackers utilize mobile apps to support their functions, giving users the convenience of remote tracking without complete reliance on a cell phone
• Longer battery lives because GPS trackers do not have background functions running which may consume battery, and they often feature standby modes when not in use
• Dedicated customer service and support
• Cell phone service is not required to obtain location data as GPS trackers utilize global positioning satellites, pinpointing locations with exceptional accuracy, to within 15 ft.
• Dedicated trackers come in a variety of form factors, depending on the application

The assortment of GPS tracking tools available on the market is as varied as the needs users may have for them. Whether you are tracking a vehicle, person, or asset for personal or business reasons, there is a GPS tool for your purpose. GPS apps for smartphones are convenient and affordable, and many users are pleased with the social components and their ability to share location details with other users.