MyTracks 2.0 Logo | |
Original author(s) | |
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Developer(s) | |
Initial release | 12 February 2009[1] |
Final release | |
Preview release | 2.0.2.rc6
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Repository | |
Written in | Java, XML (content language) |
Operating system | Android 1.5+ |
Size | Varies with device[2] |
License | Apache License, Version 2.0 |
Website | www |
MyTracks was a GPS tracking application that ran on Android. The application used a device's GPS to collect data, allowing real-time review of path, speed, distance, and elevation. Later, this data could be saved to Google Maps, Google Fusion Tables, or Google Docs and shared with Google+, Facebook, or Twitter. The application also allowed a user to record annotations along the path, hear periodic voice announcements of progress, and sync with select third-party bio-metric sensors.
Google has announced that as of the 1st May 2016, MyTracks will be deprecated and no longer available in the Google Play Store.[2][4] The app itself continues to work and is still available to sideload via APK repositories.
An in-app popup alerted users that MyTracks would stop working on April 30, 2016;[5] Google has confirmed[6] they will be investing in "other, more wide-reaching, mapping projects".
The application made its debut on February 12, 2009 under a closed license.[1] A year later on March 28, 2010, Google announced the release of the source code and open-sourcing of the application, stating "The collective intelligence of the development community will create a more powerful, more intuitive, more useful, and more robust My Tracks."[7] The first major re-haul of the application came on July 13, 2012 when Google released version 2.0 of the application. Version 2.0 introduced a new interface, support for playing back data in Google Earth for Android (although this feature is broken since Google Earth v8[8]), improved charts, and additional statistics.[9] In 2014 the developers announced on the google code project site that My Tracks is no longer developed in the open and that the source will be removed on 01/01/2015.[10] The last open source version was 2.0.5 released in August 2013.[11]
As of September 2013, the Google Play Store listed the application as being installed on 10,000,000 – 50,000,000 devices, with an overall rating of 4.4/5 from over 80,000 reviews.[2] CNET gave the application 4/5 stars, praising its "Chart, Statistics, and satellite playback" and ability to pause recordings but criticized it for an "unattractive interface" and lack of "athletic-specific features".[12] PCWorld awarded MyTracks with a perfect 5/5 stars, stating "this app is just about perfect. It is intuitive to use and very stable." However, PCWorld did mention they would like to see a few features added.[13]
OpenTracks is an open source fork of Google's MyTracks that respects privacy. It is actively developed, in 2020 Version 3.7.x was published.