Finding Your Friends Via GPS With These 9 Free Mobile Apps

By Steven Campbell, MakeUseOf – May 10, 2010 at 12:31PM

Geo-location technology is a hot topic as of late. We now have the ability to utilize the power of GPS right from the palm of our hand using our mobile device. We can view maps, points of interest, play games, and even spend time finding your friends via GPS with smart applications.

Being able to locate your friends without having to call them is a major bonus. And since we’ve become so adept at using social networks anyway, this is just one more tool added to the toolbox. Want to be able to find your friends even if you can’t hear them? If you want to locate their position (or give them yours) these 9 applications should help.

Before we get into the apps I would like to mention that we have written a few great articles in the past on this subject. For some more great location apps that won’t be covered here, I suggest you check out Beth’s article, The 9 Best iPhone GPS Apps, and Ryan’s 5 Mobile Social Networks That Know When Your Friend Is Near and How To Trace a Mobile Phone Location with Google Latitude.

LOCiMOBILE [iPhone & Android]

LOCiMOBILE has a few great GPS tracking apps out at the moment. The two that I would like to feature are the free/lite versions of the software.

GPS Tracking Lite

finding your friends via gps

This app supports up to 6 users (paid version is unlimited) and integrates with Twitter and Facebook. GPS Tracking populates your phone’s built-in Google Maps with the locations of people in your private opt-in buddy list. You can let users know where you are or request their location, and you can post your information to your social profiles.

iLOCi2 Lite

finding your friends via gps

iLOCi2 is the “Interactive GPS People Finder.” Add people to your contact list and you can receive their location through notification alerts.

The app seems like a simpler version of GPS Tracking that is focused more on keeping your contact information organized. This app works in the background as well.

Loopt [iPhone, Blackberry, Android & More]

We’ve covered Loopt briefly in the past through a directory listing. Loopt is perfect for finding your friends via GPS and to learn what they’re doing. You can discover events or places around you or your friends with Loopt Pulse, as well as check in to places and share directions.

Loopt runs on over 100 phones.

Mobcast [iPhone & Web Browser]

Mobcast is a Facebook application that lets you meet up with your friends without calling back and forth. View your friends’ locations on a map and post “mobcasts” which update your Facebook status with your location and push notifications to your friends.

Since the app is integrated with Facebook, there is no need to add your friends. You can also use this application from any web browser simply by signing in.

Friends Around Me [iPhone & iPad]

Use Friends Around Me to interact with friends across social networks and meet new friends based on a location-based search. Features include a free group chat, open profiles with alerts, integration with social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and a rewards system.

HeyWAY [iPhone]

HeyWAY stands for Hey Where Are You. HeyWAY emphasizes privacy by making you individually authorize others to see your location. You can also choose when you want to receive updates. The app also logs location updates so you can refer back to your friends’ locations whenever you want.

Find My Friend [iPhone]

Find My Friend is a Facebook app, which means it cannot be used if you don’t have a Facebook account. The main purpose of the app is to be able to meet up with your friends without having to tell each other where you are. It is integrated with Facebook and you have the ability to accept/reject requests. Privacy is taken into account with this app.

Friend Mapper Free [iPhone]

Friend Mapper updates your position live every 15 seconds. You can hide your position at any time. One-touch call or text your friends and view their locations. The time of their last update is noted.

The free version of this app only allows you to view one friend’s location, however. The paid version (99 cents) allows up to 23 streams simultaneously.

GeoTwitts [iPhone]

GeoTwitts posts your GPS location to Twitter. It also reads your friends GeoTwitts and gives you their location, along with directions to them if you would like to meet up. The app uses Google Maps to monitor/display directions and navigation.