Mobile tracking technology Working concept

Mobile Phone tracking requires a smart cell phone, tracking technology and tracking software. The tracking technology incorporates several break-throughs to enable this type of software.

Most people are familiar with GPS (Geographic Positioning System) technology. A GPS device calculates it's position in relation to the GPS satellites. There are now many satellites circling the earth and responding to millions of GPS devices. When the GPS device gets a response from enough satellites, it calculates it's position.

The tracker technology used in aPhoneTracker works a little differently. Instead of using satellites as the landmarks, it uses Cell Phone Towers and WiFi access points as landmarks. Each landmark and it's location is stored in a web server. When your iPhone detects one of these landmarks, it asks the web server for the location of that landmark. The tracking technology calculates the distance from the landmark by the strength of the signal - the stronger the signal, the closer you are to the landmark. When there are several landmarks detected then we have several overlapping circles - actually, since we live in a 3D world, they are overlapping spheres. You can visualize the overlapping spheres as a few soap bubbles stuck together. When there are lots of landmarks then your position is quite accurate. And if you are close to a WiFi landmark which covers a small area you are also positioned fairly accurately. With fewer landmarks which cover greater areas, your position will be less accurate. So when you're looking at your position on a map, check the accuracy of the position. It can vary significantly, depending on the number and type of the landmarks.