Live tracking
Showing a moving person or vehicle on a map in near real time, as delivery and ride apps do, with an ETA that updates along the way.
Updated October 2026 · with examples from our own builds
What does live tracking mean in practice?
Live tracking combines three parts: the phone reporting its location, a real-time channel carrying it to whoever is watching, and a map with a route and an ETA. The first two are cheap; maps, routes and address search are usually billed per call.
Often the most visible feature in the product, it can also be the least visible cost. A small bug in when the route is refreshed can bill a maps call every few seconds per open screen, all day, without anything looking broken.
Privacy and battery need decisions too: who can see the location, for how long, and how often the phone reports it.
Live tracking at a glance
- Built from
- Phone GPS, a real-time channel and a maps provider
- Hidden cost
- Route and map calls that repeat as the vehicle moves
- Privacy
- Who can see the location, and when sharing stops
Where has live tracking come up in our builds?
The driver's position streams to the customer over Socket.IO, the road route is fetched once per leg and refetched only if the driver strays more than 150 m from it, and the ETA is recomputed on the phone. Distance to the line is measured to the nearest segment, because sparse route points would otherwise make an on-route driver look 500 m off.
The driver app shares live GPS location with the pharmacy, plans routes and captures a photo as proof of delivery with a time and location stamp.
Common questions about live tracking
How often does the route on a tracking map need redrawing?
Only when the vehicle leaves it or the leg changes, not every time it moves. On Pakka that means a new route when the driver is more than 150 m off the drawn line, with the ETA counted down on the phone in between.
Does live tracking drain the driver's battery?
Location updates cost battery, so apps report on movement and at intervals rather than continuously. Agree the interval with your team based on how fresh the map really needs to be.
Related terms
Planning a product and not sure where live tracking fits? Ask us, or browse all 116 terms in the glossary.