To contribute, the Apple 'Find Friends' works pretty well. It can sync your location from your iPhone to iCloud, and anyone with an iPhone or a Mac laptop/desktop can be invited to know your location. They can can log in to their iCloud to see you on a map.
It does drain battery, but not so much on the newer phones...they have a better chip that's not so thirsty.
It worked fine in Turkey and the Balkans, which both have good GPS coverage. I'd call it a really good solution for an Apple-centric family for somewhat developed areas. It comes with iCloud / Me.com, so it's basically free if you're using the Apple ecosystem as designed.