Can You Recommend a Good Phone Tracking App?

We didn't have cell phones when my kids were little. If I took them to a crowded place I would buy them a balloon and tie it to their wrist. If they got ahead of me I could find them easily in the crowd. I just looked for the balloon.
Seriously though I would never allow my child to wander too far away at a carnival or other public event. Keep them close and keep an eye on them. My youngest, I had a harness and leash for, people made remarks about a kid on a leash but he pulled against my grip on his arm or hand and I was leaving marks on his skin trying to hold on to him. So the leash it was and I knew he was safe.

The woods?! Many areas of real woods do not even get cell service! For example, in NY, if you were going to hike Bear Mountain, you can look online in advance and see that some carriers are known to get better service than others there and in some areas you will not really get any signal at all.

As for a "carnival" - by the time the app shows you that the carnies have grabbed your son and smuggled him into the night it might be too late. Although Coney Island has plenty of food so he won't starve.

The best "tracking device" is watchful parenting.

I'm very curious to see if there are any apps more accurate than Life 360. It's good and will actually track my son's school bus as he's riding to and from school, but it is not super accurate. It will tell you which street he's probably on, but it can be off by a block.

Honestly, we like it because if he can't find his phone, we can at least tell if he left it at school or at church or a scouts. We were able to tell his scout leader that, yes, the phone was at the campsite and not in the nearby town (where one of the parents had driven to get something). Turns out his phone was under someone's tent and was found as they were packing up to leave.

If there is an app that's more accurate, I'd love to know. But I think that kind of technology is only used by the military :-)

https://www.quertime.com/article/15-best-apps-to-track-sh...

Find Friends is one we've used on our apple phones.

I don't have personal experience, but my friends with new drivers all use Life 360.

Life 360

ETA: As for accuracy, It may depend on your satellite coverage. I can zoom in on the map to the point that I could tell when my daughter was sitting in the student section vs the reserved seating at the football game.

We use Find my Friends for our iPhones. It is pretty accurate.

Updated

We use Find my Friends for our iPhones. It is pretty accurate.