Set and forget location tracking with Droid and Latitude

Big win for my personal informatics quiver. I didnt even know it, but with Google Latitude enabled on my Motorola Droid and location history enabled on the Latitude site, I now have set and forget location tracking using Google's latitude apps. I enabled it last night and when I got to work this AM I check my latitude history and it appears my droid had been quietly phoning home while I trundled into the office through the Western Addition and Tenderloin (see above image). I didn't press record, I didn't hit go. It just did it. A+. Those of you grounded firmer in reality than I am may ask how the hell this is useful at all. Its not exactly useful yet. It matters to me because looking at our lives through the lense of data and tracked behavior is going to become more useful and powerful in the next few years. There is an interesting group of folks that meet under the guise of "The Quantified Self" and get together around the states to talk about this stuff. But the main reason I have switched on latitude is so that I can have a nice stockpile of data when the analysis and aggregation tools start to arrive on the seen.

Currently I track...

• Personal finance using Mint.com
• Productivity / software usage with RescueTime.com
• Listening habits with Last.fm
• Travel with Dopplr.com
• Now location with Google Latitude
• And soon, sleep and fitness with FitBit

Comments

[Matt R]

it's not quite tracking, but, on the quantified self tip, when will you cave and do 23andme?

[Justin Baum]

Ha! I need to... maybe a project will come along that justifies it. Have you done it?

[Envelope Printing]

I think that everyone should have that app. I mean, you'll never know when you're going to need it. It's always best to be prepared.

[veronica]

Oh yes, this scares me just a tad.

[Otto]

I used to do that on my iPhone with Navizon, but the battery life really suffers, even with something as wide as 10 minute updates. Droid can't be much better.

The day personal location tracking takes off is simply not quite here yet.

[Justin Baum]

@Otto, I agree the day it takes off is not here but collecting the data to play with before it takes off is a good idea if you are interested in or work in personal informatics / self tracking space. As for the battery life - Its been absolutely fine since I enabled latitude, but I charge every night when I get home too. (full disclosure, I have an iPhone too, not a droidboy).

@Veronica If I were you I wouldn't touch latitude or anything like it with a 10 ft pole! :-P

[Nick Schmidt]

How do you like your Driod? I'm wondering if I should stay with Verizon.I have been wanting an iPhone for a long time.

My contract finished with Verizon & we all know there is going to be a new iPhone coming out soon.

So should I switch?

[Justin Baum]

I do like my droid very much (almost as much as the iPhone). I've been collecting a list of random things I like / dislike about it that I will post soon. It really depends on whats most important to you in a phone/apps. But now that the Google phone is basically confirmed I would wait and see what happens. That is, if you can hold out a bit longer. Or at least wait until the new iPhone in the early summer.

[Otto]

New app exists to do this in the background on a jailbroken iPhone: http://www.rockyourphone.com/index.php/longitude.html

$1.99. Looks pretty straightforward.

[Joe Decks]

I own a small construction company. If I were to give my guys Android cell phones to replace their current Verizon cell phones, could I use this as a log of when they show up and leave job sites?

Plus, they would get the benefit of using Google maps to get them to and from the job sites... correct?

Thanks for any advice.