Life on Your Time: Life360 App Review

“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is
that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers.” ~  Dave Barry

Life360 is an app I can’t imagine life without. I have a 16 year old driver in my family and it gives me some peace of mind knowing I can keep tabs on his miles per hour, hard breaks, even his phone useage. It will even contact me in the event of an emergency like an accident or a break down. I believe this is a must have app for any new driver.

You can do more than just spy on your kid with this app. It’s a nice closed circle where you can view the real time location of friends or family members on a private map. There are many other options to use the app. For example, you can receive real time alerts when friends or family arrive or leave home, work, and school. It’s nice if you have younger kids and you don’t want them on social media, but you can still have that experience of sharing photos and text messages with our secure, private chat. You can easily add or delete people from your ‘circle’ and see past location history for your Circle. There is also a Crash Detection service that will contact the parent or guardian. The most impressive thing is that you can track a lost or stolen phone. 

I hate sending texts to people when I think they’re already on their way to meet me, especially if they are driving. This app eliminates that problem by telling me where they are. I can create geofence zones around my home, my work site or my office. Whenever someone in my circle arrives or leaves, the app sends me a notification.

The primary reason I’m currently using this app is to monitor my son’s driving habits. I’m obviously not going to use this forever. It is important to build good driving habits and this helps me reinforce those good behaviors. With the latest update, I can view my son as well as other drivers. Under the premium subscription plan, I can see when he’s speeding or texting while driving. I can even compare my own driving habits with my son’s to better gauge who should be teaching who.

There is also a premium Crash detection service. I can use the accelerometer on my phone and automatically detect a crash. The software has been tested in BMW’s crash test facility, and  analyzed data from numerous real life car crashes. When a crash is noticed, there is a trained emergency team that can call the driver involved within minutes to assess the situation. If police or emergency services are needed, if insurance agents are available, the Life360 App has that covered. This app will also notify me or my spouse since we’re all in the ‘circle’ together.

Life360 has three subscription options: Life360 Plus – $2.99/mo, Life360 Driver Protect (US) – 7.99/mo, Life360 Driver Protect (Non-US) – $4.99/mo. With the Plus option, there is 30 days worth of stored history of everyone’s activity in your ‘circle’. There are also unlimited place alerts and local crime notifications within the USA. Driver Protect offers all the features of Plus, as well as driving analysis, 24/7 driver care support (US only), and crash detection (US only). All Driver Protect and Plus subscriptions have a free 7 day trial. After the trial ends, the subscription will auto-renew on a monthly or yearly basis.