A high-performance live tracking application designed for long-distance event participants.
What we did
- Native mobile application engineering
- Energy-efficient GPS algorithm development
- Real-time data synchronisation
- User interface design for endurance athletes
- Backend integration with the Map My Tracks Event platform
- Rigorous field testing and battery performance benchmarking
About the project
Map My Tracks is a pioneer in the outdoor sports tracking industry, providing enthusiasts and professionals with the tools to record and share their activities. While their primary application serves a broad range of fitness needs, a specific requirement emerged for participants in mass-participation events - such as ultra-marathons, multi-day cycling sportives, and triathlons - who required a dedicated solution for live tracking without the risk of hardware failure.
The resulting Map My Tracks Endurance app was built as a specialised companion tool. Unlike standard fitness trackers that focus on biometric data and workout analysis, Endurance is laser-focused on one thing: providing a reliable "dot on a map" for friends, family, and event organisers to follow in real-time. By streamlining the feature set and focusing on the core utility of location sharing, we were able to provide a robust MVP approach that addressed the most critical need of the endurance community.
Working closely with the Map My Tracks team, we developed an application that integrates seamlessly with their existing event tracking infrastructure. This allows event organisers to provide a professional "dot watching" experience for spectators, enhancing the safety and engagement of large-scale sporting competitions across the globe.
The Challenge
The primary obstacle in developing a live tracking application for long-distance sports is the inherent power consumption of GPS technology. Traditional tracking apps often drain a smartphone battery within a few hours, which is insufficient for events lasting a full day or longer.
Battery Depletion: Continuous GPS polling is one of the most resource-intensive tasks a mobile device can perform.
Connectivity Issues: Athletes often move through remote areas with intermittent data coverage, requiring smart caching and syncing.
Device Thermal Management: Constant processing and data transmission can cause devices to overheat in warm climates.
User Error: Complex setups can lead to athletes failing to start their tracking correctly under the pressure of a race start.
Our Solution
To overcome these challenges, our team focused on a mobile app engineering strategy that prioritised energy conservation over high-frequency data points. We recognised that for "dot watching," a location update every few minutes is often more valuable than a high-resolution track that results in a dead phone.
Intelligent GPS Management
The core of the Endurance app is a bespoke algorithm that manages the GPS hardware's "wake" states. Rather than keeping the GPS active at all times, the app only activates the sensor when a scheduled update is required. Once the location is acquired and queued for transmission, the sensor is powered down. This significant reduction in active hardware time is what allows the app to function for twelve hours or more on a single charge.
User-Controlled Update Frequency
We empowered the user to manage their own battery life through an adjustable update frequency. Participants can choose between rapid updates for shorter races or extended intervals for multi-day adventures. This flexibility was a key component of our sports app development process, ensuring the tool was fit for purpose across a wide variety of athletic disciplines.
Robust Data Syncing
Understanding that cellular signals are often weak in the mountains or countryside, we implemented a robust "store and forward" mechanism. If the app cannot reach the Map My Tracks servers, it securely caches the location data locally. As soon as a connection is restored, the app backfills the data to the event platform, ensuring the spectator map remains accurate without any loss of data points.
The Results
The Map My Tracks Endurance app has become a staple tool for organisers of long-distance events. By focusing on a minimum viable product strategy that mastered one difficult task - low-power tracking - rather than many easy ones, we delivered a product with immediate market fit.
Exceptional Battery Life: Users can reliably track live for 12+ hours without meaningful impact on the phone’s overall usability.
Seamless Integration: The app connects directly to the Map My Tracks Event tracking platform, providing a turn-key solution for organisers.
Global Adoption: Used in hundreds of events worldwide, supporting thousands of "dot watchers" simultaneously.
Enhanced Safety: Event organisers can monitor the real-time location of all participants, providing an extra layer of security for remote races.
Technical Highlights
Native Development: Utilised iOS app development services and Android equivalents to access low-level hardware APIs for optimal power management.
Background Processing: Leveraged advanced background execution tasks to ensure tracking continues even when the phone is locked or other apps are in use.
API Integration: Secure RESTful API communication with the Map My Tracks backend for real-time data ingestion.
Local Storage: SQLite implementation for reliable data caching in offline environments.
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