
Show HN: Build live location sharing in your app with HyperTrack - arjun27
https://github.com/hypertrack/hypertrack-live-android
======
marknadal
I highly recommend also Open Sourcing the server, or else you'll have to
compare against Open Source alternatives:

\- We did a prototype last July on saving 100M+ updates for $10/day all costs
(cpu, disk, backup). Proof:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_WqBuEA7s8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_WqBuEA7s8)

\- You can 1 click deploy to a free Heroku server here:
[https://github.com/amark/gun#heroku](https://github.com/amark/gun#heroku)

\- Watch a demo of the GPS tracking here: 1min
[https://youtu.be/7ALHtbC9aOM](https://youtu.be/7ALHtbC9aOM)

\- Demo of the app here: (warning: asks for location)
[http://gps.gunDB.io/](http://gps.gunDB.io/)

\- Source code here: (only ~200LOC, lots to improve)
[https://github.com/gundb/gps](https://github.com/gundb/gps)

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cpt_snowcrash
Pricing looks way too expensive to me even for small to medium scale usage.
And if my business cross the medium scale , then why wouldn't i really build
it inhouse. Seem like a classic case of product looking for problem.

~~~
arjun27
We have several large scale businesses that are paid customers and find it
cheaper to use us, than build it in-house. It's about the cost of an engineer,
and that's a fraction of what they will incur, ongoing operating costs
notwithstanding

~~~
cpt_snowcrash
Businesses for whom location tracking is critical process component and not a
good to have such as logistic companies or lets say food/medicine delivery
companies who also already have an app deployed with their end agents, the
additional cost for them to get location tracking and reporting integrated in
their mobile apps is trivial and also there is no technical moat as is there
in lets say messaging or SMS APIs ( like Twilio). Either I don't understand
your customer set, or problem you are solving is simply not big enough. You
are trying to do to location tracking what twilio did to messaging, but
reality is location tracking as a service doesn't make a very solid business
case here. But best of luck :)

~~~
nugator
"... the additional cost for them to get location tracking and reporting
integrated in their mobile apps is trivial..."

As a professional developer I would say that its not trivial, at least not
cheap to develop. Theoretically all problems you know how to solve are
trivial. Professionally you know that developing a solution that is flexible,
reliable, supportable, extendible, user friendly and maintainable takes time,
expertise and money to develop.

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senthilmpro
Didn't Google Maps do this already for free ? Why should I abandon those and
use this ?

~~~
arjun27
Google Maps and other map APIs are great for visuals, routes and ETAs. Where
they lack is generating a battery efficient accurate location stream and
mapping that to your app's workflow. Plus, map APIs are priced on the basis of
number of API calls or views, both of which can lead to unpredictable cost for
such a feature. For a more detailed analysis, check out our blog post:
[https://blog.hypertrack.com/2017/04/23/building-live-
locatio...](https://blog.hypertrack.com/2017/04/23/building-live-location-
features-requires-more-than-maps-apis/)

~~~
sandGorgon
This is pretty cool - [https://blog.hypertrack.com/2017/04/18/pitfalls-using-
locati...](https://blog.hypertrack.com/2017/04/18/pitfalls-using-location-
streams-building-live-location-features/)

Is there something in the protocol that makes it more efficient?

~~~
arjun27
I'm guessing you're referring to MQTT. With smaller packet sizes it's more
battery efficient than HTTP if you're making continuous network requests.
Great comparison post here: [http://stephendnicholas.com/posts/power-
profiling-mqtt-vs-ht...](http://stephendnicholas.com/posts/power-profiling-
mqtt-vs-https)

------
redstripe
How much of a battery drain is it to be constantly GPS tracking?

~~~
arjun27
<1% per hour. This is achieved by: 1\. use consumption patterns to know when
to transmit data (eg, if no one is actively tracking, no need to transmit data
on radio) [1] 2\. using accelerometer and gyroscope data to know when to
collect data (eg, if you're not moving, no need to use GPS)

[1] We blogged about how we built out our variable frequency model:
[https://blog.hypertrack.com/2016/11/28/battery-efficient-
rea...](https://blog.hypertrack.com/2016/11/28/battery-efficient-real-time-
gps-tracking/)

~~~
nwjtkjn
The blog post claims ~5% per hour.

~~~
arjun27
Ah, old post actually, dated Nov 2016. Just wanted to share it for the
variable freq approach - sorry for the confusion! We released a major update
of the SDK this March which brought in significant improvements due to sensor
data.

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parul
Looks pretty cool! Do you have something for iOS as well?

~~~
vibhasjain
It's in the works Parul! Should be out within a month

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zongitsrinzler
Is Hypertrack open source?

~~~
eddyg
No, this is just a demonstration of how to use their API in an app.

According to the pricing[1] page, actual use is US$0.04 per "action" (which
they describe as "deliveries, pickups, dropoffs, visits, appointments or
anything you may decide")

[1] [https://www.hypertrack.com/pricing](https://www.hypertrack.com/pricing)

~~~
flippyhead
Maybe I don't understand it but that seems really expensive.

~~~
rhizome
Show HN: How to use Michael Jackson samples in your music

Step 1. Download and install Audacity and LMMS

Step 2. Get clearance agreements from the Jackson estate

Step 3. ...

------
katboo
What value does this add which Glympse or PathShare already don't provide?

~~~
arjun27
APIs! HyperTrack is built to integrate into your existing product experience
and workflows.

~~~
katboo
What do you mean by API?

Both Glympse and PathShare have fairly elaborate set of APIs on iOS and
Android. Not sure I understand the distinction.

~~~
arjun27
My bad, I should have been clearer. Both Glympse and Pathshare are great
products and have APIs, but their approach is not developer first. For
example, Glympse has guidelines for developers to showcase Glympse
branding[1], something I personally as a developer don't appreciate,
especially when some of the views are consumer facing. Or the fact that
Pathshare's SDKs[2] haven't been updated in more than a year, even though
their app has had multiple updates recently. As a developer tool, we focus on
enabling developers to build location features in their apps, with the latest
and greatest of our product running silently in the background.

[1]
[https://developer.glympse.com/docs/core/guidelines](https://developer.glympse.com/docs/core/guidelines)
[2] [https://github.com/freshbits/pathshare-sdk-
ios](https://github.com/freshbits/pathshare-sdk-ios)

~~~
katboo
Thanks. Good luck!

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jaequery
could this be used to roll your own uber?

~~~
arjun27
Yep. Location based assignments and live order tracking are two of our most
popular use-cases.

