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This article was published on May 9, 2011

Forget Apple tracking your iPhone, now you can do it yourself with Geoloqi.


Forget Apple tracking your iPhone, now you can do it yourself with Geoloqi.

After all of the uproar over Apple storing your iPhone’s location data, let’s face it, we weren’t upset that our location was being stored so much as the fact that a giant corporation was doing it to us rather unknowingly. Now one app lets you store, track and securely share this information, all on your own in realtime. If you embrace the age of the check-in and shouting your GPS coordinates from the rooftop is M.O., then Geoloqi, a new mobile and web app might be the one location sharing app to rule them all.

Upon first use, you’ll notice two things. First, it is the Godzilla of location sharing apps, and by that I mean it does everything– meshing the best features of all other social location sharing devices into one platform. Second, the behemoth of an app is brutal on your iPhone’s battery.

It’s not trying to replace Foursquare. In fact, the app’s featured Foursquare “layer” automatically checks you in at your favorite venues when you’ve been there for 10 minutes. “It’s Foursquare on steroids,” says Thrillist’s Richard Blakeley, who posted about the app last Friday. It also features the best of Google Latitude, allowing you to share realtime GPS maps with friends.

Geoloqi’s other layers include “USGS Earthquakes” likely targeted towards those out in San Francisco to warn them of nearby rumbles and “BarBird’s Best Deals,” which pushes the top ranked bar tweets to your phone when your nearby.

Use Geoloqi’s “Geonotes” to leave yourself messages at specific locations like “Don’t forget how delicious the Cafe Mochas are here,” “WiFi PW here is LOLDogz,” and “Sip in the sunshine” at McCarren Park. The messages then pop up when you pay the place a visit again.

Since privacy is so deeply embedded with location sharing, Geoloqi offers time-limited location sharing, so you can share your location for 10 minutes, 7 days or forever. You can then share your location by email, SMS, Twitter, Facebook or copy the URL and paste it anywhere. I imagine this will come in very handy the next time I’m driving home to see M&D. I’ll just send them a link with my GPS coordinates via Geoloqi and never have to answer another, “How far away are you?” “What’s your ETA?” question again.

Because Geoloqi’s GPS tracker runs in the background, which can be a battery drain, it offers custom settings including high resolution tracking and battery saver mode. The app even warns you when your battery gets too low.

Is Geoloqi poised to enter the geolocation race in 2011? Yes. Will it be everyone’s new favorite location based app? Not unless it can figure out a better way to save your battery. For more information on the age of the check-in, see our recent post on Why the Check-In will live on in 2011 and beyond.

Download Geoloqi on iOS and Android (free).

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