The Microsoft Garage concept, which is where the company lets the ideas of its employees run wild and actually turn into usable products, is a great incubator of ideas, a lot of which see the actual light of day. The latest product they’re releasing is an app called Trip Tracker, and from the name itself, you probably can guess what it does. But to make it clear, it will track the trips you’re taking, whether you’re driving, walking, running, etc.
This is an app that would work for those who don’t have a fitness tracker or smartwatch but would still want to track their activities. It uses the LOOP (Location and Observation Platform) SDK, a platform from Microsoft that can track your location and bring you insights and analytics but will not drain your battery easily. All this information from the SDK is then presented in an understandable and organized way through the app.
Once you start an activity, the app is able to detect and properly identify it as such. You can be driving, running, riding a bike or simply walking, but the app will start tracking and recording the duration, which path you took, when the activity ended, etc. You can then see your activity patterns emerging and if you need to act on them, like add more walking, adjust your time so you spend less driving, then do so.
You can download Trip Tracker from the Google Play Store for free. The app is from the same team that has brought us Arrow Launcher and Next Lock Screen, so good job that Microsoft Garage Team.
