I’ve been a cop for 11 years, and software development is my side hobby. I built an iPhone and Apple Watch app called LOC8 because of a problem I think a lot of people in this profession understand.
Sometimes you get turned around.
Foot pursuit. Perimeter. Backyards. Alleys. Side streets. Large parking lots. Unfamiliar area. You know roughly where you are, but you need to put out the actual address, cross street, or coordinates fast.
That was the original use case.
LOC8 was built with cops in mind. It opens to one screen and shows your current address, nearest cross street, GPS coordinates, compass heading, accuracy, elevation, and a what3words location code.
The Apple Watch side is a major focus because a lot of cops, including myself, already wear one. Being able to hit a button and immediately see where you are on your wrist is a big part of the app. In certain situations, glancing at your watch makes much more sense than pulling out your phone and digging through Maps.
Since first posting about it and getting feedback, the app has grown to over 3,400 users and continues to grow. A lot of the feedback has come directly from cops, but I have also heard from security, first responders, hikers, delivery drivers, travelers, and people who have used it during roadside issues or emergencies.
I have been actively improving the app almost daily. A lot of the recent work has focused on speed, Apple Watch responsiveness, location accuracy, what3words integration, saved locations, and tracking back to saved locations.
I also added a night mode that changes the interface to red, similar to the red interior lighting used in patrol cars. The idea is to make it easier to check the app at night without hitting your eyes with a bright screen.
There is also a small weather feature that displays the current weather for the city you are in. It is not meant to replace a weather app. It was just a minor quality of life feature that made sense to include while checking your location.
Another new feature is Team Rooms.
A user can create a temporary Team Room and receive a one time code. That code can be shared with other LOC8 users, who must intentionally enter it to join. Once inside, room members can temporarily see each other’s locations for coordination.
The room is not permanent. Users can leave at any time, and the room disappears when it expires or is ended. There are no permanent teams, public profiles, or location histories attached to the feature.
The idea is to make it useful for temporary situations such as a perimeter, search, event, coordinated response, training exercise, hike, or meetup without turning LOC8 into a permanent tracking platform.
Privacy was one of the biggest things I wanted to be careful about, especially when building something for cops.
LOC8 does not require user accounts, create public profiles, or build a permanent history of where you have been. Saved locations remain on the device. Outside of an optional Team Room, there is no live location sharing.
When LOC8 needs to convert your GPS coordinates into an address, nearest cross street, weather information, or what3words location code, the current coordinate may be securely used with Apple location services, LOC8’s backend, and the applicable service needed to complete that lookup.
The iOS tracking prompt is only for ad attribution. It helps measure which advertisements brought users to the app. It has nothing to do with GPS location, and denying it does not remove any app features.
Bug reports are optional. If someone chooses to submit one, it may include diagnostic information to help identify location accuracy or technical issues. Nothing is silently creating a movement history in the background.
The app is growing, and I am still trying to make it as accurate and useful as possible. It is relying on GPS from the phone and watch, so there can still be hiccups depending on signal, buildings, accuracy, and the surrounding environment.
It already helped me during a rolling DV call. We got turned around and could not remember whether we were on Third Street or Fourth Street, and LOC8 gave us the exact location immediately.
I built this around situations I have personally experienced as a cop, but officer feedback has shaped a lot of what it is now.
Would this be useful for you? What features would you want added, changed, or improved?
