How to Track and Record Your Location History

Short answer: your phone is probably already recording your location history — check Google Maps Timeline on Android or Significant Locations on iPhone. If you want a route you control, in a file you own, you need a tracking app that logs to the device rather than to a platform account.

What your phone already records

Both platforms keep a location history by default, and most people have never looked at it.

Android: Google Maps → your profile picture → Your Timeline. Shows places visited, routes taken and how you travelled, going back years if Location History has been on.

iPhone: Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → System Services → Significant Locations. Protected by Face ID. Apple states this is encrypted and stored on device rather than on their servers.

The difference matters. Apple's version is primarily local; Google's is an account-level service, which is why it appears on any device you sign into.

Turning it off — properly

Switching off the main toggle stops future collection but does not delete what is already stored. Both steps are needed.

Android:

1. Settings → Location → off (stops all apps)
2. Google account → Data & privacy → Location History → pause and delete existing history
3. Also check Web & App Activity, which stores location alongside searches

iPhone:

1. Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → off, or set per app
2. System Services → Significant Locations → Clear History
3. Check Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking to stop cross-app tracking

Per-app control is usually a better approach than the global switch, which breaks maps, weather and emergency features. Set each app to "While Using" rather than "Always" unless it genuinely needs background access.

Recording a route you own

Platform timelines are for reviewing, not exporting. If you want a GPX or KML file — for a hike, a delivery log, a mileage claim, or a run — you need a dedicated tracker.

What a good location tracker app gives you that the platform timeline does not:

• A file you control, exportable and not tied to an account
• Configurable sampling interval, so you can trade battery for detail
• Live stats — distance, elapsed time, average and current speed, elevation
• Background recording that survives the screen turning off
• No cloud dependency — it works in airplane mode

Battery: the real numbers

Continuous GPS is expensive. Rough guide for active tracking:

For a driving route, one point every 30 seconds is plenty — at 100 km/h that is a point every 800 m, and roads are mostly straight between junctions. For a hike with switchbacks, every 5 seconds captures the shape properly.

Cut consumption further by turning the screen off (the display usually costs more than the GPS), and by disabling any map display while recording.

Getting accurate tracks

Recorded routes go wrong in predictable ways:

• Jagged zigzags while stationary. GPS noise. Filter out points reporting accuracy worse than about 20–30 m, and discard movement below a minimum speed threshold.
• Corners cut into straight lines. Sampling interval too long for your speed. Shorten it.
• A sudden jump of several hundred metres. A bad fix, usually from a reflection off a building. One-off outliers should be filtered by accuracy.
• The track starting late. Cold start — the receiver needs 30 to 60 seconds to acquire satellites from scratch. Start the app before you set off and wait for a good fix.

You can check what accuracy your phone is currently achieving with our GPS accuracy tool before relying on it for anything.

Accuracy expectations

Dual-frequency GNSS, present on most flagships since about 2019, roughly halves the error in cities because it rejects reflected signals.

Privacy considerations before you record

A location log is genuinely sensitive — it reveals your home, your workplace, your routine and who you visit. Before choosing where to store one:

• Prefer an app that stores on the device over one that uploads by default
• Check whether exports are shared with anyone when you use a share link
• Be aware that photos taken during a trip carry GPS coordinates in EXIF even if you never record a track
• If you share a route publicly, trim the start and end so it does not begin at your front door