Protego for Android
It's here. After a long stretch of "iPhone only, sorry" — the answer we gave more often than any other — Protego is on Google Play, and it arrived as the whole app rather than a smaller sibling of it.
Get it on Google Play On iPhone? App Store →
Free to download · Free for a circle of two · No location data sold
Everything the iOS app does
We didn't ship a preview and call it a launch. The Android app went out with the same feature set as the version Apple households have been using:
- Real-time location sharing — everyone in the circle, live, on one map.
- Wards — geofences around school, home, work, practice, a friend's house. Arrivals and departures confirm themselves quietly instead of announcing every movement.
- 30-day journey history — where someone has been over the past month, without having to ask.
- Home screen widgets — a glance instead of an app launch.
- Wizarding-style avatars on a parchment-style map — the whole reason a fourteen-year-old leaves it installed.
- Battery-efficient background tracking — built on Android's fused location APIs rather than hammering the GPS chip.
One circle, both platforms
This is the part that actually changes things. A family circle has never cared what phone you carry — but until now, half of most families couldn't get in. Now a parent on an iPhone, a teenager who insisted on a Pixel, and a grandparent on an old Android tablet all join the same circle, see the same map, and get the same ward alerts.
No second-class member. No "the Android one doesn't have that yet." That was the whole point of waiting until it was finished.
Why it took a while
We're a small team, and we had a choice: ship something thin early, or ship the real thing later. Location tracking is a category where a half-built app isn't charming, it's a safety promise you can't keep — a ward that doesn't fire is worse than no ward at all, because you stopped watching for the thing yourself.
So we took the longer route. If you pre-registered on Google Play and waited: thank you, genuinely. You're the reason the launch had anyone in it.
What it costs
Free to download, and free to use for a circle of up to two people, with no feature paywall inside that tier — wards, history, and widgets are all in the free version. Adding more family members to the circle moves you to a paid plan. That's how we keep the business honest without selling your family's location data, which we don't do and never have.
Pricing is identical on Android and iOS.
What we still don't have
No crash detection. If you have a new driver in the house and automatic crash alerts are the specific thing keeping you up at night, Life360 has that feature and we don't — that's worth more than anything on this page, and we'd rather you knew now. No content monitoring or screen-time controls either; those are a different category, and Bark or Qustodio are built for it.
We do one thing: the family map, made pleasant enough that everyone stays in it.
Setting it up
- Install Protego from Google Play.
- Create your family circle and pick your avatar.
- Invite your people with a link — they install the app on whatever phone they have and join.
- Set wards around the places that matter. School, home, work, wherever practice is.
- Put your phone away. That's the point.
Ten minutes, give or take the argument about who gets which avatar.
Get it on Google Play Compare with other trackers
Frequently asked questions
Is Protego available on Android?
Yes. Protego for Android launched in August 2026 and is on Google Play now, at feature parity with the iOS app.
Is Protego for Android free?
Free to download, and free for a family circle of up to two people with no feature paywalls. Adding more members requires a paid plan. Same pricing as iOS.
Can Android and iPhone family members share one circle?
Yes — circles are cross-platform by default. Android phones, iPhones, iPads, and Macs all sit in the same circle and see the same map.
Is Protego a good Life360 alternative on Android?
If what you want is location sharing your teenager will actually leave installed, yes: circles are mutual by construction and we don't sell location data. Life360 still wins on crash detection and roadside assistance. More detail in our Protego vs Life360 comparison and our guide to Life360 alternatives.
How does it compare to Google Family Link?
They're different products and they pair well. Family Link does parental controls — screen time, app approvals. Protego does the shared family map. See the full comparison.
Does it drain battery?
It uses Android's battery-efficient fused location APIs rather than polling GPS continuously. Sharing location always costs something, but it shouldn't noticeably shorten your day.
Do you sell my family's location data?
No — not to brokers, not to anyone, and we don't aggregate it into anything either. Revenue is the paid plan for larger circles. That's the whole business model. See our facts page.