Sarequads

Is there an app where it logs everywhere I've been like in a video game? If you have ever played Forza horizon, Zelda botw or GTA it shows where you have been in the world. Is this possible in an app? I have strava which I don't use, Garmin which I use for certain things and mostly training peaks but is there an app that specifically shows you accumulated roads you have been on? I have been intrigued by this woman that is trying to ride on all the roads of her home state in USA of Alaska! I don't know how she is logging it but being from Scotland I'm sure I can try to ride on at least most roads in my area.

TimothyH

Strava personal heat maps will show you all the roads you have been on.

I have no idea how this compares to video games.

fishboat

Facebook?

bobwysiwyg

wphamilton

If you have location services enabled on your phone, google already has this information. Sign into your google account online and go to https://www.google.com/maps/timeline?pb Every place I've gone for the past 4 years is there, and it's marked whether I was driving, cycling, or just moving around.

TimothyH

That's creepy when you think about it.

rgconner

I been everywhere, man
I been everywhere, man
Crossed the deserts bare, man.

And also Strava.

1500SLR

First you have to have an Android phone it seems. This service has no data on me and that's the way I like it.

ExPatTyke

As above, Strava or Google Timeline. With Strava you can also use Relive - https://www.relive.cc/ - which plays back a sort-of-3d video of your ride. Don't know if this link to one of my rides will work, but give it a try: -

https://www.relive.cc/view/985753363

Kevkev

If you're interesting in logging specific points on a map, I've used an app called Poop Map, which is exactly what it sounds like. I have no idea what its intended purpose is, but I used it last summer when I toured the country with a drum and bugle corps to keep track of places we stayed and performed.

wphamilton

Oh yeah, and to make it stalkerish, Google helpfully labels the destination points. Home, work, Outback, etc. And how long you were there.

speedevil 

If you have an account at spotwalla (https://spotwalla.com/) you can use an android app named GPS Bubbler. You start the app when you want, and it will send location coordinates to spotwalla at intervals you select. I used this when I had a SPOT device for off-road motorcycle trips. A lot of places on the Trans-America Trail have no cell coverage, and it was nice to have the means to summon help if needed. The reason I also used spotwalla is that the SPOT maps did not retain all of the data, older points were overwritten by new ones. Spotwalla retains all of them so you can see your entire trip even if it is a long one.

u235

If you carry a phone with service your carrier has similar info. You just don't get to see it. Worst case it may use triangulation and not GPS but it is close.

jimmie65

IPhone user?
https://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/973297

Unless you disable location services on iPhone, Windows phones, or Android, you're being tracked. If you're still using a flip phone with no location service, you're golden.

jimmie65

The FBI loves Google and Apple.

canklecat

^^^This.^^^
Until December my iPhone had no phone access or data plan. For two years I ran it as a GPS device. It still recorded my bike rides and any activities when I carried my iPhone. With Google maps data I opted to have it on by default.

With GPS-only tracking, the map traces are herky jerky, not always following the roads accurately. This could be a factor with dense urban areas.

Since December I've finally begun using smartphones with data plans (my old flip phone was horrible for texting, etc.). Again, I've enabled Google maps data tracking by default. My choice. I can always disable it, revert to one of my old dumbphones or just leave the phones at home if I'm worried about being tracked. But I'm not doing anything of interest to anyone but me.

With a smartphone using GPS and tower data, map traces are much more accurate per Google maps timeline, comparable to Strava or any fitness app.

Why would I want to be tracked by default?

Primarily for collision/accident reporting purposes. As a former newspaper reporter and workplace safety/accident investigator, I learned long ago that human memory is fallible under the best conditions, worse under stress and non-existent in the event of head injury or even a concussion. The consequences can be serious.

I ride rural routes with lots of animal crossings, mostly deer. While I'm cautious around the most common crossings, those critters can surprise you. Especially this time of year with does and fawns darting across the road in small groups, particularly near dusk.

The main reason is because of what happened to me in 2001. The driver of a large SUV ran a red light at highway speed and t-boned my compact car. Fortunately my grandsons were okay. But my back and neck were broken in six places and I have permanent C2 damage, with the next-to-top vertebrae splintered in at least three pieces. It was a disabling injury. I was unable to work a regular full time job for years. I needed a cane to walk for almost 12 years and only resumed cycling in 2015. While I'm doing better than I'd ever imagined possible now, I live with chronic pain, particularly in the neck and occasionally excruciating headaches. It never goes away, never subsides, just a constant dull ache and sometimes sharp pains that feel like barbed wire in the neck.

Everything in the system worked against my best interests. The police and emergency medical responders only tended to the driver of the SUV, because she was a local in an exclusive enclave in a rural community. They ignored me and my grandkids. Only the kindness of witnesses and employees at a nearby fast food place got us out of the car and off the highway while I was dazed from a concussion.

Unfortunately I was too dazed from shock to get the names of any witnesses. There was no police report of the incident, or at least they denied there was any report. Nothing appeared in the local rural newspaper. Other than my totaled car and insurance report, it was as if nothing had happened. Officially, they denied the entire incident. I never even learned the identity of the SUV driver.

Fortunately, I have an incredibly hard head. I never lost consciousness and remembered many details accurately, which my attorney was able to confirm. That's the only reason I was able to get any settlement at all. And I had to call several attorneys to even take my case. Most told me they wouldn't risk representing a client in that rural area due to corruption.

My settlement was $5,000, on top of minimal payment for physical therapy for six months. It didn't even come close to paying my full medical bills or compensating me for a lifelong disability.

That's why I enable Google tracking by default. It's my witness. And I've considered setting Strava to automatically upload my rides to Facebook, in the event I'm unable to.

Again, I can always disable tracking but the best way to avoid being tracked is to simply leave the tracking devices at home. If I were still a journalist and occasionally needed to interview people under sensitive situations, I might consider that. But it's no longer a factor in my life. If Big Brother is really curious to find me, I'll be on my bike dodging potholes and baby skunks, and occasionally meeting friends at various bike friendly watering holes.

***

The attached photo shows how accurately Google maps traced my movements Tuesday. I was returning from a 30 mile ride accompanying another disabled fellow who's bicycling cross country toward a meetup with his support RV. As I passed a bridge over Mary's Creek I noticed some sunglasses. I backtracked to pick them up, thinking I might find the owner through Strava's fly-by feature. The map tracing accurately shows my movements, when magnified.

canklecat

Regarding the OP's original question ('scuse my digression above), just enable any recording app you like. You don't need to make anything public. Strava can be set to private by default.

Strava, other activity apps, Google maps, etc., all store data in common formats. You can usually download your own data files and use them on other apps. So when you find the app you're looking for you can transfer the data to that app.

BTW, have you tried the Relive video-type app? By opting in, Relive will create an animated trace of your ride, superimposed over a satellite terrain map, including some swoopy spins and 3D type stuff. Not sure whether it's what you have in mind but it's worth trying. The Relive videos will usually be created within an hour or so of the end of a ride or activity and you'll be notified by email (not sure about text msg).

u235

Nope.
Don't get excited thinking you are not being tracked. Your carrier is tracking your location through the cell tower and triangulation. Only way to avoid it, shut off your phone or do not carry it. People freak out of the thought Google might be tracking them too but think nothing of it when the carrier is doing it. Is Verizon/Sprint/Cricket/whoever having it any safer or better than Google having it? At least with Google I can see it and in theory they have a policy of what they do with it and I can delete it and to be honest, I benefit because I can use and reference that information too for my own use.
I am kind of a tin foil hat guy but I use Google services including the location tracking. There services although extensive and very personal do provide benefits to me worthwhile.

canklecat

BTW, here's a tutorial on creating your own heat map using Google data. Looks pretty cool. I'm gonna try it later.

canklecat

Yup. In 1987, Walker Railey, then a high profile pastor of a prestigious local church, outsmarted himself by leaving a message that he was calling from his "mo-bile phone" to mislead potential investigators. He was accused of attempting to murder his wife and clumsily trying to create a fake timeline and alibi, not realizing his phone was tracking his actual location. He was acquitted of the murder but it was probably the earliest notification many folks got that their mobile phones could trace their movements.

jimmie65

My understanding is (and I'm only a paralegal who has had to dig through subpoenaed phone records, including location tracking, so what do I know?) that carriers can track you through triangulation but don't maintain records on individual movements unless requested to do so by a court order. Google, Apple, and Windows do maintain tracking logs when your phone's location services are on. Of course, Google and Apple in particular are loath to respond to court orders and, at least in our handful of cases, I have never seen the FBI even request tracking data from either company.

I do agree that it's silly to freak out over being tracked. Like the uproar over Facebook and personal data - seriously, people, it's the 21st century. There is no such thing as privacy anymore.

1500SLR

Yes, iPhone and I use Strava. The thing is, I trust Apple more than I do Google in dealing with private data and not installing backdoors on phones. The FBI had to hire hackers to break the Boston Bombers iPhone.

u235

They have the data, they require a subpoena before they will release that data to law enforcement. That is how when law enforcement requests the data, the carriers already have it to give to them. How long they keep it, how it is protected, what they use it for is mystery meat and probably varies widely. Same subpoena concept applies to Google/Apple/Microsoft. Just as Ford, Telsa, GM etc have the same data about your car location. They can choose to release it or sell it or use it how they want themselves for what ever reason they want including just giving it to law enforcement if they choose without a court order. For a lot of companies, it is in their best interest to require a court order. Same as Comcast and Verizon have records of your internet sites and traffic at home, your CC company tracks your spending and locations you used the card and so on. People that don't think that is being tracked because they don't see it are under the wrong impression. Google looks like the bigger boggy man and creepy because you can actually see it. Same as the recent Facebook news. Newsflash, Facebook has data and records of information you gave them over time. People are amazed by that? Getting off topic here but our society that jumps on popular bandwagons is comical. Last year Equifax had a HUGE data breach of personal sensitive financial information they collected that you would never purposely share with anyone or any one person or company yourself and you are not a direct customer of Equifax so you can't do anything about it and congress, the media, and basically most everyone glosses over it. This month a ground swell of people just now figured out Facebook has data YOU ACTIVELY GAVE THEM about yourself over time and Congress does a dog and pony show people want regulation and are crazy about it because they are using it. Did you ever wonder why that free game you downloaded to play on your phone wants access to your contacts and phone history?

1500SLR

Triangulation based on cell phone towers is old hat. The vast majority of phones in this world today have a GPS device in them. They can track you down from space to a distance of less than a metre via GPS tracking if the government is really interested in what you're doing. Then there is five eyes. A nation is generally not allowed to spy on its own people but if a nation wants to spy on someone then generally they can get another nation to do it for them.

At the end of the day though, your life is probably not that interesting that you would gain the interest of international intelligence bureaus.

wphamilton

That's the worst part of the Google tracking IMO, seeing how boringly predictable you are. The same tracks, day after day, the same destinations when you leave those tracks. You could program your activities years in advance and it would make little difference. Depressing.