I’m a little perplexed after researching those locator services that say they can track a location or locate your misplaced phone. I found some, and the reviews paint them as a complete disappointment—either they don’t work or they charge you shady prices. How these things work and why they still exist intrigue me greatly.
I’m attempting to determine the following:
What tools or techniques are used by locator services? Are they using pinging cell towers, GPS, or something else entirely?
Despite numerous complaints about their inefficiency or dubious practices, what factors enable these companies to continue operating and drawing users?
I would appreciate a concise, straightforward explanation, perhaps accompanied by a brief example or some information about the technical or business aspects of the situation. Extra points if you’ve used one of these services and had an amazing experience! Many thanks in advance!
Comments
What are you trying to stalk someone, or something?
Most will just have an API in to the phone’s OS (this is basically the app asking the phone to tell it where it is), and the phone’s OS will figure out its location based on what is available and the settings using its built in functions.
Phones can use GPS, triangulation from cell towers, with some logic eg if its got a rough idea where you are, you’re going 50 in a general direction and there is a road nearby it’s highly likely you’re on the road and not driving across the fields next to it. And also wifi networks, but for a less accurate location.
Once the app has the location, it will upload it to the app’s cloud. This might be on a time schedule, or an event such as powering on/off, unlock screen or a query from the cloud.
These third party locators are no more accurate that the standard google or Apple services, if anything Google or Apple may restrict access hem from having full functionality
locator services usually work by tapping into a mix of GPS and cell tower triangulation. GPS is pretty straightforward—it pings satellites to get your coords, but it’s useless indoors or if the device is off. Triangulation uses nearby cell towers to estimate a location, which is why it’s often super inaccurate, like “oh, your phone’s somewhere in a 5-mile radius, lol.” Some shady ones might even just scrape public Wi-Fi data to guess where you are.
I tried one of those locator apps last year after losing my phone at a party. They claimed they use GPS + some fancy “signal mapping” (whatever that means), but all I got was a dot on a map that was legit 10 miles off. Charged me $30 the next day too – had to fight with my bank to get it back. I think they keep going cuz desperate people (like me, oops) will try anything to find their stuff. Plus, their ads are everywhere, so they’re probs raking in cash even if half their users hate them.
Locator tech isn’t rocket science, fam. They mostly use GPS if the device is online, or they ping cell towers to guesstimate where it’s at
I saw a doc where they said these companies make millions off hidden fees. Total scam vibes, but I guess that’s why they’re still kickin’
Some fancy ones might tap into Wi-Fi networks for better accuracy, but that’s rare with the cheap apps
You’re talking to people the way someone would talk to ChatGPT. Maybe ask ChatGPT to make your prompts a little more human-sounding.