What is live GPS tracking?
Live GPS tracking lets your app show the real-time location of people, vehicles, or assets on a map — updated continuously as they move. Think of a food delivery app showing where the driver is, a field service app showing which technician is nearest to a job, or a logistics platform showing the location of every vehicle in the fleet.
It's different from basic mapping (which just shows a static location or directions) — live tracking requires constant location updates from the device, transmitted to a server, and reflected on a map for whoever needs to see it.
When does your app need it?
- You dispatch drivers, technicians, or delivery personnel and need to track their location
- Customers want to know where their delivery or service provider is in real time
- You manage a fleet of vehicles and want to know their locations
- You need to verify that field workers are at the correct job site
- You build for logistics, transport, field service, or emergency response
- Safety requirements mean staff in remote areas need to be monitored
How much does it cost?
Adding live GPS tracking typically adds 8–16 hours of development — roughly $1,000–$4,000 AUD.
Lower end: Single tracked entity per session, updates every 30 seconds, basic map display. A driver shares their location for the duration of a delivery; a customer sees it on a map.
Higher end: Multiple tracked entities simultaneously, sub-10-second update intervals, historical playback, geofencing alerts, and a management dashboard showing the whole fleet. Each of these adds time.
Ongoing infrastructure costs: location data flows through your server (or a managed service like Ably or Pusher). At high update frequency with many tracked devices, data transfer costs can be meaningful — understand this before launch.
How it's typically built
On the device: The app uses native location APIs (iOS CoreLocation, Android LocationManager) or React Native's expo-location to read the GPS coordinates at set intervals and send them to your server.
On the server: Incoming coordinates are stored or passed through to subscribers in real time using WebSockets or a pub/sub service (Ably, Pusher). Connections from tracking screens receive updates as they arrive.
On the map: Google Maps, Mapbox, or Apple Maps render the position, typically with a custom marker and a polyline trail showing the recent path.
Battery consumption is a real consideration on mobile: high-frequency GPS updates drain batteries quickly. The right update interval depends on the use case — a courier delivery might update every 5 seconds; a long-haul truck might update every 2 minutes.
Australian logistics businesses building tracking apps often integrate with Australia Post, Couriers Please, or StarTrack for last-mile delivery — these may already provide tracking infrastructure that your app can surface, reducing build cost.
Questions to ask your developer
- How often does the location update? More frequent = better UX but more battery drain and data usage. Find the right balance for your use case.
- What happens when the device loses GPS signal? The app should handle this gracefully, not crash or show stale data indefinitely.
- Is location tracked in the background? This requires explicit user permission on both iOS and Android, and Apple in particular scrutinises apps that request background location heavily.
- How long is location history stored? If you need historical playback or compliance records, this data needs to be stored and queryable.
- What are the ongoing infrastructure costs? Real-time data at scale isn't free — understand the WebSocket or pub/sub costs at your expected usage.
See also: Maps & geolocation · Route optimisation · Geofencing · App cost calculator