Google Maps and Android: you can track your own location, view history minute-by-minute

Android device owners that use location-related services and apps a lot, and would like to track and access their own location for a change, can do so on Google Maps by going to location history.

One reddit thread discusses how Android device users can view their location history “minute-by-minute” by going to this Google Maps URL: maps.google.com/locationhistory. There, you can browse location history by day, which should show up on a map, assuming that you have location services enabled on your device.

Because Google does the actual tracking of your location, you’d have to agree to Google monitoring that data for you in order for the service to work. Otherwise, you’ll get a blank map, as shown below:

In case you have no problem having your location tracked – well, someone, somewhere will track you no matter what – you may as well enjoy it, especially if you’re particularly interested about past trips or location you may have visited at a certain time since you purchased that shiny, GPS-enabled Android device.

You may want to record your long trips using this Google Maps feature, and even though they won’t be as cool as reddit user yadsendew‘s video above  (a 7-minute timelapse video out of almost 7250 miles of driving in the U.S.) they may still be useful for future reference. Such recorded data may get you out of a tricky situation like user glycationendproduct did with the police, when he was able to show to an officer his exact location on a given day:

tl;dr – Cops came to seize my car for a hit and run that ‘only I could have committed’. I handed the cop a laptop with the location history open and showed him that, at the very least, my phone was nowhere near the crime. A corroborating phone call confirmed my story. They let me go.

Naturally, at the end of the day it’s up to you to decide whether you want to have apps and services track your location or not. But if you’re heavily into Google products, including Google Now, this feature may certainly come in handy.