GPSLogger for Android

GPSLogger is a lightweight open-source Android app that logs positions and can send each one to a URL you specify. Because you control the entire URL, including parameter names, it works with Geoblip as-is — no plugin, no bridge, no account linking.

It is the cheapest possible way to test whether geofencing solves your problem: a free app, an old Android phone, and five minutes.

Setup

1. Install it. Get it from Google Play.

2. Get your device API key. Add a device in Geoblip and copy its key.

3. Turn off file logging. In Logging details, disable Log to GPX and anything else you do not need. Writing files you never read wastes storage and battery.

4. Enable custom URL logging. Logging details → Log to custom URL, then open the custom URL settings and set the URL to:

https://app.geoblip.com/api/ingest/coordinates?api_key=YOUR_KEY&lat=%LAT&lng=%LON&acc=%ACC

Replace YOUR_KEY with your device key. Leave the HTTP method as GET.

5. Set the interval. General options → Logging interval. See below for choosing a value.

6. Allow background running. Battery optimisation → unrestricted for GPSLogger, in Android’s app settings. Without this Android will suspend it and positions stop arriving — this is the single most common reason a setup goes quiet after an hour.

Why this works without any bridge

Geoblip’s ingest endpoint takes api_key, lat, lng, and optionally acc. GPSLogger substitutes placeholders anywhere in the URL, so you simply name the parameters to match. Most tracking platforms require the app to speak their format; here the app adapts to ours.

Substitution is case-insensitive, so %lat and %LAT both work.

Available placeholders

Taken from the app’s substitution source rather than from memory:

Placeholder	Value
%LAT / %LON	Latitude and longitude
%ACC	Accuracy radius in metres
%ALT	Altitude
%SPD / %SPD_KPH	Speed in m/s and km/h
%DIR	Bearing
%TIMESTAMP	Unix seconds
%TIME	ISO 8601 datetime
%BATT	Battery percentage
%SAT	Satellite count
%HDOP / %VDOP / %PDOP	Dilution of precision — see HDOP
%PROV	Position provider (gps / network / fused)
%ALL	Expands to every parameter as name=value pairs

Geoblip only needs api_key, lat, and lng. Adding acc is worthwhile because it records how trustworthy each position was.

Choosing an interval

The trade is direct: shorter intervals mean faster alerts and worse battery life. See reporting interval for the full table.

Interval	Suits
30 s	Fast alerts, phone needs daily charging
60 s	Good general default
5 min	School-hours or all-day tracking on one charge

Set the minimum distance to around 20–30 metres as well. That stops a stationary phone uploading the same position endlessly as GPS drift moves it a few metres.

Troubleshooting

Positions stop after a while. Battery optimisation. Set GPSLogger to unrestricted and disable any manufacturer-specific battery manager — Xiaomi, Huawei, OnePlus, and Samsung are all aggressive here beyond stock Android.

Nothing arrives at all. Check the URL for a typo in the key, and confirm you enabled Log to custom URL rather than only configuring it. GPSLogger has a log viewer that shows the HTTP response.

Positions are wildly inaccurate. The phone is falling back to network positioning indoors. Set Location provider preference to GPS and expect gaps where there is no sky view — see GPS accuracy.

Slow first position after unlocking. A cold start; see A-GPS. Normal, and it resolves within a minute outdoors.

Where it fits

An old Android phone with GPSLogger is a genuinely capable tracker — better GPS than most budget hardware, and free. Its limits are battery life and the fact that someone has to carry it.

For a child’s backpack or a vehicle it works well. For a trailer left in a yard for a month, you want dedicated hardware. See OsmAnd for an alternative app, or Traccar Client if you already use it.