Dec 23 2011
Phonelocator for Android Alpha
An alpha version of Phonelocator for Android is available here!
The app supports GPS and network location methods. You can enable and disable GPS from the settings. If GPS is disabled the network location provider will be used. It´s possible to configure how long the app waits for a GPS signal before giving up. If a GPS signal can´t be found, the app falls back to network location.
The registration process is more intuitive than the Symbian version. When you start the app for the first time, a web page pops up in the app where you can log in or register for the service. After logging in you´re returned to the app automatically.
So far we´ve used 55 hours creating Phonelocator for Android (a tiny fraction of the time spent on the Symbian version). There´s still loads of features to add:
- Update version IMEI/IMSI to server
- Prettiness – icons, nicer lists etc
- Passcode protected settings and uninstall
- Buddy message – a message that is sent to a known “buddy” number when the SIM card in the phone is changed.
Most of the settings on the web site releate to the Symbian version. However, it is possible to enable and disable updates from the web site and change the update frequency. The phone´s IMEI and IMSI numbers (and the app´s version number) are not updated to the web site and consequently is currently only possible to have one Android app per account.
Phonelocator for Android is free and open source. The source code is hosted on Github here. If anybody wants to get involved in the development please get in touch
The app has been tested on a Samsung Galaxy S2. I´ve been updating every 10 mins and running the app has not made any perceivable difference to battery life. Please let us know your experiences with it.
