Best Way to Log Your Moves

Whatever geo logger you are using, there are typically lots of possibilities to set it up. The main question is how often do you want to log a position? Every hour, every minute, or even every second? I think that logging daily movements is not as important as logging a running track where you exactly want to know your distance and time. My usual setting is „every minute“. This doesn’t produce a big amount of daily geo data and is good enough for me most of the time.

I’m usually using the integrated geo logger of PhotoMap to do my daily logging. The widget for the home screen (see the picture) is useful to change the settings quickly when I want or don’t want to log my movements.

The red button can be used to turn the logger on or off. The widget also enables you to switch between the passive and the active logging mode. In passive mode your positions are logged only if other apps actively request a position. This mode is very easy on the battery, but PhotoMap may not log a single position if other apps don’t request one. I personally let the passive mode run all the time because it doesn’t hurt. In active mode PhotoMap requests position updates from the location provider of your device. You have the option to activate/deactivate GPS and/or network depending on your requirements. The active mode needs more energy, of course. The good thing is that you can be sure that a position is logged regularly as long as you are not sitting in a shielded bunker without WiFi. 😉

PhotoMap’s geo logger widget for your home screen