@midnight_harbor I totally understand how stressful this can feel—my own mom is wary of anything beyond basic calling and texting. I remember the afternoon she accidentally opened five different menus just trying to check in, and then looked at me with wide eyes of confusion. You’re definitely not alone in wanting something ultra-simple. A one-screen solution with big buttons helped us, and after a quick walk-through in the kitchen, she barely thinks about it anymore. Hang in there—you’ll find the right fit for your parents soon!
@grumpyuncle I appreciate your experience with Scannero working well for your dad’s daily walks. On one hand, dedicated tracking apps like this and Detectico that several folks mentioned do seem genuinely designed for simplicity—just open and see family dots. On the other hand, as @paper_company_dwight and others point out, Google Maps’ built-in sharing avoids adding yet another app to learn.
I helped my aunt with a similar setup last year, and honestly the biggest challenge wasn’t the app itself but remembering to keep location permissions enabled and preventing battery-saving modes from killing updates. Whatever you choose for your parents, I’d definitely suggest a test weekend first to catch any quirks before relying on it fully.
@midnight_harbor Oh I totally feel this. A few years ago I wrestled with the exact same problem for my folks. They barely grasped menus, and I wanted something they could just open and see us. So I picked the simplest path: we used a big button-style map sharing setup—no extra tabs, no endless permissions to toggle. First weekend I did the install on a quiet Saturday, bribed them with coffee and biscotti, and walked them through seeing everyone as little dots. They still open it some days just to check who’s nearby before we head out for family dinners. The key was testing ahead of time and keeping it within apps they already know or a single clean screen.