You can set up location sharing on a parent’s phone in about fifteen minutes, and the best way is sitting next to them with both phones in hand. Doing it together matters for two reasons. The permissions screens are confusing for anyone, and a parent who watched you set it up will know exactly what is shared and with whom.

One limit first. Traxl is an Android app today, and the iPhone version is coming soon. If your parent has an iPhone, this guide won’t help yet.

Before you touch the phone

Have the conversation first. Say what you would like to see (“where you are when you go out, and a note if the phone runs flat”) and ask what they’d be uncomfortable with. If they say no, stop there. A location app on someone who doesn’t want it only teaches them to leave the phone at home.

Charge the phone, make sure it has mobile data or Wi-Fi, and check you know their Google account password or can reach the Play Store without one. Bring reading glasses. It sounds silly, and it saves a lot of squinting.

The steps, one at a time

  1. Install Traxl from Google Play on your parent’s phone. If the text looks small, increase the phone’s font size in its display settings first.
  2. Create your Circle on your own phone and invite your parent by link or QR code. The link works well over WhatsApp. If you are sitting together, scanning the QR code is quicker.
  3. Join from their phone by opening the link or scanning the code. Check that your name appears in the Circle on their screen, so they can see who they are sharing with.
  4. Allow location all the time when asked. This is what lets sharing continue with the app closed. Android will show a small notification whenever Traxl is sharing, and it’s worth explaining that to your parent so it doesn’t look like something is wrong.
  5. Follow the battery checklist in the app. Many phones stop background apps to save power, which is the most common reason sharing stops overnight. The menus differ from one phone maker to another, so go through the checklist screen by screen.
  6. Test it. Ask them to walk to the gate and back, or watch their dot move on your phone while they stand at the door. Then ask them to press the check-in button once so they know what it does.

Tip: Show them how to stop

Show your parent how to pause sharing in the app, and tell them that you won’t mind. Sharing paused inside the app shows as paused on your side. Traxl has no hidden mode, so nothing about this should be a secret.

What if it goes wrong halfway?

It often does, a little. The invite link opens in the wrong app, the Play Store asks for a password nobody remembers, or the permission screen has a button your parent taps twice. Don’t hurry them. If you get stuck, stop, make tea, and come back to it; a half-finished setup is better than a rushed one that nobody understands. If your parent gets flustered, take the phone yourself for the fiddly part and hand it back for the bits they’ll use, such as the check-in button.

If you live in another city and can’t sit beside them, do it over a video call with the phone propped up, and have someone at their end hold it steady. It takes longer, but it works.

Which settings to leave alone

Resist turning everything on. Two or three features are plenty for a parent. Mark their home and perhaps one more place, such as the clinic or a relative’s house, if you want arrive and leave notes. Quiet hours stop alerts waking anyone overnight. The free plan keeps three saved places per Circle, which is enough here. You’ll find the full list on the features page, and the plan limits on the pricing page.

Will it flatten the battery?

Traxl sends frequent updates when someone is moving and settles to a steady anchor when they are still, so a phone sitting at home barely pings. That said, location sharing does use some battery, and an old phone with a worn battery may feel it. If your parent often runs out of charge, fix the charging habit first. A charger by the favourite chair beats any setting. For more on background sharing and what can interrupt it, read our post on sharing live location with family in the background.

After the first week

Look at it together, not at it alone. Ask whether any alert annoyed them and whether the notification bothered them. Check in again after a month. A parent who feels in control will leave the app running for years. One who feels watched will find the off switch.

If your family is bigger than three people, the free plan has to stretch: it allows one Circle of up to three. Traxl Plus (₹100 a month or ₹999 a year) allows up to ten per Circle. Traxl is not a medical or emergency service, and it does not call anyone outside your Circle.