6 Apps to Keep Your Trick-or-Treaters Safe This Halloween

I love Halloween because it's a fun time of the year when you get to see folks young and old dress up in costume When I was younger, I used to roam the neighborhood with a group of friends to find out who had special Halloween treats. If you want your kids or grandkids to share the same types of adventures and make sure your kids are safe as they trick or treat, there are some smart tech apps you can download to keep tabs on your little ghosts and goblins as they scour your neighborhood collecting treats this Halloween.

1. Apple's Find My Friends. Find my Friends can be used not only to locate your devices, but you can use it to keep an eye on your kids too. If your family uses Apple devices such as iPhones, iPad with cellular services, Apple watches and even an iPod touch you can keep track of your kiddos with this App that's already built into your Apple device.

2. Android's Find My Device. Like Apple's Find My Friends, Find My Device was designed to find your Android devices if you lost them. You can also use this technology to keep track of your kids as they are trick or treating. Find My Device will work on 99% of Android devices which means you can send your kids off with an Android watch, tablet or phone and know where they are in an instant.

3. Google Maps.  Google Maps not only lets you get to your destination, it allows you to track your kids using GPS when they have a smart device with it enabled. All they need is a Google Account.  A great reason to keep the old smart devices.

4. Next Door. Yes, you use this app to keep track of what's going on in the neighborhood, but using the 'Treat Map', you can see who is handing out candy in your area. This allows you to sit down with your kids and plan the route to get candy.  

5. Life 360. This family organization app allows you to Keep track of all of your family members and communicate with them. The bonus feature of this app is you can create a geofence to keep your kids within an assigned area. If your kids step out of the fence, it will send you an immediate alert. If your kids get in trouble, there is a built-in Panic Button feature. For older kids who are driving to Halloween celebrations, Life360's Driver Protection monitors speed and notifies you if they exceed the speed limit. If they are involved in an accident, Life 360 will notify you and send them a text asking if they need emergency services.

6. Track or Treat.  Not really an app to monitor kids location, but it allows you to monitor how many trick or treaters show up at your house this year. Using the app can help you plan better for the next year of trick or treating. 

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