Tracking Cell Phones with Free Cell Phone Tracker Apps like Glympse

Cell phone tracking is one of the coolest features available to modern cell phones.  Cell phones have GPS receivers in them thanks to the Federal government mandating that cell phone manufacturers make cell phones locatable should someone call 911 from their cellphone. 

Prior to this, a lot of people would call 911 and be unable to give their exact location.  Because of this, a lot of people died because they couldn't give their location to the 911 operator.  Government officials put the screws to cell phone manufacturers and told them they had to figure out a way to solve the problem.  Cell phone manufacturers answered by installing GPS receivers in their cell phones and activating what is called enhanced 911. 

With enhanced 911, if you call 911 from your cell phone, your location will instantly appear on the computer screen of the emergency operator.  Even if you are injured and disoriented, emergency operator will be able to send help to you since they will see your location on their screen.

Many companies have jumped on tracking cell phones bandwagon.  Today I'll be telling you about one particular way of tracking cell phones with a service called Glympse.

Using the Glimpse service for tracking cell phones has to be one of the easiest to use cell phone tracker applications out there.  When you use the glimpse service, there's no account to sign up for.  You don't have to start a new social network and get all of your friends to join in order to be able to track them on their cell phone.  You don't need to download or install any special software on your cell phone in order to be able to start tracking cell phones with glimpse.  You don't need to subscribe to a data plan in order to be able to track the cellphone with Glympse.  Best of all, you don't need to pay them a penny in order to use the cellphone tracker application.

The glympse cell phone tracker service currently works with three brands of cell phones.  Let me rephrase that. It works with cell phones that are powered by three different operating systems.  If you have a cell phone that is powered by Google Android, an iPhone, or a cell phone that is powered by Windows Mobile, you can use glympse for tracking cell phones.

You can either use the service from a cell phone or from an Internet connected computer.  Which ever is more convenient for you.

Nothing could be much simpler than using Glympse for tracking cell phones.  All you need to do is go to the glympse website from either a computer or your mobile phone browser and send a text message through the Glympse system to the person that you would like to be able to track you. 

Glympse works a little bit differently for tracking cell phones than most cell phone tracker applications.  Glympse is designed to be able to give permission to someone to track you with your cell phone for a limited amount of time only.  When you send a text message to the person that you are giving permission to track your cell phone to, you will set a timer that dictates exactly how long the individual will be able to track you.

This is great for business purposes because oftentimes you may be meeting up with a client or some colleagues for a business meeting and you don't want them to be able to track you all the time.  When you use glympse for tracking cell phones, you can send them a text message that gives them permission to track your cell phone for 30 minutes, and hour, or an hour and 1/2.  Then, if your business colleagues want to know where you are and how close you are to arriving at the meeting, they can simply look at their cellphone and see your exact real-time location on a map on either their cell phone screen or their computer screen.

When the timer has expired, that individual will no longer be able to track your cell phone unless you send them another Glympse giving them permission to do so. 

This is actually a really cool service.  In most areas that is now illegal to send text messages were make cell phone calls while driving.  If you have sent a Glimpse to someone who is expecting you to arrive somewhere, they don't have to call you to see how close you are to arriving.  They can simply use their cell phone or Internet connected computer to see exactly where you are get an idea of when you will arrive.

The Glympse service for tracking cell phones is relatively new and only a few devices currently work with the system.  The company plans to add functionality to their service by supporting more mobile devices in the very near future.  If you would like to be notified when glympse has updated their service to support your mobile device, you can sign up at the glimpse website and they will send you an e-mail and a text message when your phone has been added to the list of supported mobile devices.

As with any new technology or service, it sometimes takes a little while for the list of devices to be added to the compatibility of the service. If your cell phone is not currently supported by glimpse for tracking cell phones, just give it a little time and it will be soon.

Here's a clever short video from Glympse for tracking cell phones that you'll surely like.

Never use cell phone tracking technology to track someone without their consent and knowledge. This may be illegal and get you in a bunch of trouble.