Kids Tracking that isn't a phone

đź’¬ Lounge
1

We are low tech when it comes to our kids, aged 12 and 9.

Curious if anyone has been happy with a tracking device for security reasons but also it would be amazing if I could leverage it for presence tracking for the house as well. They'll eventually have phones and I'll immediately leverage OwnTracks at that time as it's been amazing so far.

Just throwing it out there in case active else has gone down this rabbit hole and found something they're happy with, thanks!

3

If you and your partner use iPhones, then AirTags can be a good option, although you also kind of need to be in an area with other iOS users that’s not too sparsely populated. There’s a variety of accessories to attach to a backpack, wristband, etc.

They rely on pings to nearby iOS devices (including other people’s devices, which AFAIK is done anonymously/securely) to update their location. So in a rural area it may not work well. But in a city they’re great!

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4

My wife does have an iPhone and we live in a city, so this might be perfect. Certainly worth trying!

Is there an ability to incorporate these into presence tracking?

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5

Not easily, as far as I know. They work very well within the “find my” app on iOS devices.

But I think they’re (by design) not really exposed to external services.

However there are plugins for homebridge and integrations for Home Assistant that can sometimes push the limits of what’s possible with iOS devices, so that might be worth looking into further as well.

6

Would be fun if GPS/Cell tower trackers could be integrated into Hubitat. How do the trackers communicate with you currently? I have to ask because I have not used them.

7

GPS and cell towers are integrated into Hubitat, with users’ mobile phones. Directly with the Hubitat mobile apps for iOS and Android, or indirectly with other GPS apps that can send a webhook, for example.

If by tracker you mean AirTags, I mentioned above that Apple uses a proprietary protocol to have an AirTag ping any iOS device around it (literally any nearby iPhone or iPad), which then updates the airtag’s position in Apple’s “find my” app for its registered owner.

8

Looks like they’re Bluetooth-based.