Should you use a travel tracker app like FindPenguins on your next road trip?

There’s plenty of ways to get going if you’re looking to drive somewhere new: a Moleskine and tracing paper combination tourist guidebook, perhaps, or maybe even good ol’ Google Maps. But maybe it’s time to consider trying out a battery-friendly app for getting out on the road.

Popular in Europe and growing in popularity here in Australia, FindPenguins is like Google Maps with a couple of additional features to make it road trip-friendly. Part travel tracker, part travel journal, the app keeps track of where you’ve been, where you’re going, and who you want to share that journey with.

FindPenguin’s founder and CEO Tobias Riedle came up with the name for the app when travelling through Patagonia to see real-life penguins in the wild. A globetrotter by nature who travelled to over 55 countries, he wanted to create a piece of technology that gave other people an opportunity to track their travels and share their memories.

We downloaded the app and took it for a spin to see if it’s worth your time.

By manually turning on the Travel Tracker, you can instantly start tracking your trips. The app can even detect whether you’re travelling by car or plane.

Waypoints are created by your phone checking your movements every 5 to 10 minutes. For the sake of accuracy, the app only records a point once you’ve moved at least 500 metres from the last stop. That way, you can keep your eyes on the road and take in the sights around you, as the app gets to work on mapping out the direction you’re going in, and your mode of transportation.

Solo road tripping isn’t the endgame here – you might have friends travelling with you in their own vehicles, or friends and family stuck at home who want to feel included in the adventure.

There’s a couple of ways to bring others along for the ride:

Unlike other travel tracking apps, you can access FindPenguins and view trips on your desktop computer or laptop.

This is handy for when you might want to view photos, videos or trips on a larger screen, or prefer to fill in your journal entries and organise photos and videos by location during your downtime or after you come home from your trip.

The app uses a combination of GPS, WiFi and cellular data. It continues to work even when you’ve switched to Flight Mode – and only takes up about 4% of extra battery when the Tracker is switched on.

Many FindPenguins users prefer to write in their native language, or the language of the country they may be visiting. The app’s Auto Translation feature allows a ‘see translation’ option to appear. It may not be 100% accurate, but it allows you to gain a general understanding of what’s being discussed.

For data and statistics nerds – and even those who just want to take a moment to feel proud of how much of the world they’ve seen – FindPeguins uses trip tracking to generate beautiful highlights and stories about where you’ve been. You can even add past trips to keep growing your profile and travel footprint.

FindPenguins works best for those who opt into a premium membership. Paying for a subscription gives you an opportunity to upload more photos and videos (and, in the end, more content that can be transferred to a photo book). You’re promised faster customer support and free PDF books, as well as discounted physical photobooks.

At USD $20 a year for a premium membership, most road trip hopefuls might only stick to the free version of the app. Apps like PolarSteps and Esplorio come with unlimited media uploads.

If travel tracking apps are new territory for you, it may be worth testing the app out and trialling its capabilities before you go out on the road.

While there are some good tooltips for creating new ‘Footprints’ and trips (which can be as ambitious as world travel, or a shorter trip around your neighbourhood), it might be worth setting up a ‘first timers tour’ around the app first. This way you can set-up and optimise your profile correctly, and learn how to follow and add travellers so that you get the best community experience from FindPenguins.

Currently, FindPenguins only has a public setting for profiles, open to everyone, or a private mode that’s only for you to view. If the app developed a ‘Close Friends’ feature similar to Instagram, it could create more opportunities for posting trips and details with specific friend groups in mind.

Overall, FindPenguins is a good gateway into the world of travel tracking apps, but it’s definitely worth checking out some others before committing.

Some users may find the rigidity of FindPenguins features a bit restrictive, but its auto-tracking capabilities may balance this out for some users. The focus of FindPenguins is treating it like a travel buddy who takes care of all the travel journaling admin for you, so that you can focus on having and capturing those experiences – either in real time, or in the quieter moments. That said, the interface looks a bit outdated in comparison to its competitors and there’s a bit of a learning curve before it feels like second nature to use.

There are apps that are prettier, like the South Korean travel app VOLO, and emoji-driven apps with commenting features like Journi that have quicker customer service for free users – so it’s best to have a look around before you hit the road, and see which fits your personality best.

Related: 10 reasons you’re about to dump Google Maps for Waze

Related: The best apps to help you find parking

Related: The best apps to help you find your way while travelling