WHERE IS MY FAMILY?

Locator Apps

Apps, videos, and old-school tools for finding your family in an emergency, and for letting them find you.

Grandpa TJ’s Tip

I’ve located videos on how to find out where you and your family members are. Knowing where you are and alternate routes to get where you need to go can be critical during an emergency. Add to that the ability to meet up with members of your family, or to let them know where you are, and you can save a lot of worry. See the Family Meet Up and the Central Check In pages for more information.
- Grandpa TJ -

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Find My… Apps Offline Mapping Share My Location GPS Devices and Paper Maps SMS Texts on Your Computer Group Texts

Find My… Apps to Locate Family and Friends

This video shows you how to use the Apple iPhone’s built-in Find My app to locate your family members. The app was designed to locate your iPhone, iPad, AirPods or AirTags if they are lost or stolen, but it can also find family members. It also includes a Last Known Location feature in case the phone is not actively connected to the internet or Wi-Fi, or if the battery goes dead.

Thanks to Jigxor Tutorials for the YouTube video

This video shows how to use the Google Maps app, which can be found in either the App Store for iPhone or in the Google Play store for Android phones.

Thanks to TheUnlockr for the YouTube video

This video shows how to use the Life360 app, which can be found in either the App Store for iPhone or in the Google Play store for Android phones.

Thanks to Phandroid for the YouTube video

This video compares the iPhone’s built-in Find My app with the Google Maps and Life360 apps (both of these apps can be found in either the App Store or Google Play).

Thanks to Wall Street Journal for the YouTube video

No Internet? Offline Mapping Apps

This video shows 10 offline mapping apps for iPhone when there is no internet data. Listed apps: Google Maps, Maps.me, CityMaps2Go, Sygic, Pocket Earth, Galileo Offline Maps, OpenMaps PRO, HERE WeGo, GPSmyCity and TrailLink.

Thanks to iGeeksBlog for the YouTube video

This video shows 5 offline mapping apps for Android when there is no internet data. Listed apps: Google Maps, Maps.me, OsmAnd, HERE Maps and Locus Map.

Thanks to MrTechTamil for the YouTube video

Other Apps with Share My Location

This video shows how to share your location from the iPhone’s Messages texting app.

Thanks to LoFi Alpaca for the YouTube video

This video shows how Snapchat can be used to share your location with friends.

Thanks to How To Apps for the YouTube video

This video shows how Facebook’s Messenger app can be used to share your location with friends. How to share your location is at the 3:13 mark of the video.

Thanks to Techboomers for the YouTube video

GPS Devices and Paper Maps (gasp! oh how quaint...)

Using your phone to get your location is easy, but if the internet is down or your phone’s battery is dead, you have a problem. Here are some options to get accurate location information without running down your phone’s battery.

Grandpa TJ: Save your phone for texting and calling your family members only during an emergency. Don’t use it for navigation if you can avoid it. That will kill the battery in no time at all…

People normally go to their smartphones for location information, but don’t forget other ways you may have available for finding where you are and how to get somewhere that don’t rely on the internet.

• Car navigation systems
• Dedicated GPS devices
• Paper maps or the Thomas Guide

Sending and Receiving SMS Text Messages on Your Desktop Computer

If the cellular networks are down at your location but you still have internet access on your desktop or laptop computer, you can still send and receive SMS text messages from your family’s phones, assuming that they are out of the affected area. See the Central Check In page.

Grandpa TJ: If a disaster occurs while you are on your computer at work or at a Wi-Fi hotspot with your laptop, use your email or the following SMS texting methods to let your family know where you are and what you are planning. Save your phone’s battery for texting and calling when you don’t have any other way to communicate. Plus, you won’t be fighting jammed cellular networks.

This video shows 3 methods for sending and receiving SMS text messages on your PC: email, MightyText and “free” texting websites.

Thanks to Digital Trends for the YouTube video

This video shows how to use the desktop version of Google Messages to send and receive text messages on your family’s mobile phones.

Thanks to TechProbSolution for the YouTube video

This video shows how to use your Mac computer to send and receive text messages on both Apple and Android phones.

Thanks to LearnEDU for the YouTube video

Use Group Texts to Find Your Family

In the days of hardwired phones, phone tree lists were the fastest way to get information out to a specific group of people. The coordinator would call two people with information for the whole group, and then those two would each call two more to relay that information along. Then those four would each call two additional people and so on, until the entire group was notified. There were flaws with that plan, but in general it worked OK.

In the cellular phone era, taking time to call people is very slow compared to sending group texts. And with group texts, you are not restricted to just cellular either. Texts can be sent and received via Wi-Fi hotspots and desktop computers without using cellular at all.

Grandpa TJ: During a crisis, the cellular voice lines are frequently jammed and you are often told to try your call again later. But as long as you have cellular service, texts can usually still get through.

So set up and use family group texts on all of your connected devices as a way to quickly get information to the entire family, not only during an emergency but anytime. You can always try to call them too, but don’t rely on voice calls only during an emergency.

This video shows how to set up group texts with friends and family on an iPhone.

Thanks to Teach Mom How for the YouTube video

So when you run into a problem and need to head to a family meet up spot, group text everyone (including your Central Check In) with your location at the moment and where you are heading. That way not only do they know your plans, but they also have a time stamp for when you left that location.

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