To wish you a Happy Halloween, here are two fun apps to help you have a frightfully good time.
The Droids you won’t have to be looking for
So your kids are all dressed up in their Star Wars costumes, trying to use the force to convince you to let them venture out Trick-or-treating on their own. Maybe they’re mature, independent pre-teens and you’ve been planning to let them try it in your relatively safe neighborhood, but you’re still not sure.
Here’s where the Android App Trick or Tracker, which markets itself as the “only bidirectional family locator mobile application,” might come in handy.
For five bucks per phone, it lets you pair your Android phone with your child’s Android phone and uses GPS tracking to check your child’s whereabouts on demand, or sends you periodic text updates of their location.
I couldn’t tell from the site’s documentation whether it works for multiple children or not, but if the kids stay together, you could kind of track their little group of Halloween adventurers.
Even if you wouldn’t let your child go out alone to Trick-or-Treat, it’s a nice idea to have something like this because if you teach them how to use it and you get separated in all the hullabaloo, it could be a good way to find each other again.
The app works all year round, and also has other useful features. There’s Latchkey, which can be set up to notify you by text message when your child arrives at home, or gets to school.
Finally, there’s Guards Up, a perimeter tracking capability to let you know if your little monster has stayed within the agreed upon trick-or-treating zone or has strayed out of it. This can be used throughout the year as well, and could come in handy anytime Mummy wants to keep tabs.
If you’d like, you can find out more about how it works and watch the demo video before you purchase and download it from Android Market or from your browser at Trickortracker.com.
If you’re wishing for something like this for your iPhone, try repurposing Apple’s Find My Friends.
Bobbing for Apple apps
Never let it be said the Apple fans aren’t given equal opportunity for fun. If you’re staying home to greet Trick-Or-Treaters instead of going out, you can spend a buck and get GoblinCount - the Trick-Or-Treater Counter for your iPHone or iPod touch.
This’ll help you answer the inevitable, “So, how many kids rang your doorbell?” question with something other than, “Uh…I don’t know. It seemed like a lot.” It will also aid in planning next year’s candy purchase.
Have fun guys and ghouls! Be careful out there and enjoy Halloween!
What’s your favorite Halloween candy? Are you planning to track your family while they’re trick-or-treating using some kind of GPS app? Let us know in the TalkBacks below.
