Guides
Live tracking for runners: a link, not a system
Waypath is a GPS running, trail and live-tracking app for iPhone and Apple Watch, built in Europe, that lets anyone follow a run live from a browser link without installing an app.
Live tracking in running apps usually means one of two things: a safety beacon sent to a few contacts, or a timing system rented by a race. Waypath does a third thing, and this page explains what it is, what it costs, how often it updates, and what it will never tell you.
How it works
One link, opened in a browser
When you start a run in Waypath you can share it live. The app produces a link. Anyone you send it to opens it in a browser, on a phone at the roadside or a laptop at home, and sees your position on a map. They do not install anything and they do not create an account. The link is the whole mechanism.
For an event, the organiser draws the course in the app and runners who want to be seen opt in from their own phones. The spectator page then shows the field moving along that course. Positions refresh about twice a minute. It is a spectator view, not a timing system: it will tell you your runner is on the climb at 14 km, and it will not tell you who won.
Live sharing is free. There is nothing to rent, install on the course, or collect afterwards, which is why a club run, a school cross-country or a 40-person trail race can have it when until now only the biggest events could afford readers every couple of kilometres.
The link is the key
What a spectator can and cannot see
The URL carries the capability. Whoever holds it can watch; nobody else can. The page is served with no third-party script, so no CDN or analytics host sees the link in a referrer, and it is marked not to be indexed by search engines. When the run ends, the live view ends with it.
What is shared is the live position during the run. Your history, your other activities and your profile are not part of the spectator page. If you later publish the activity, Waypath applies its usual protections: any declared privacy zone is removed, a random 200 to 600 metres is trimmed from each end of the route, and the start time is stored bucketed to the hour, so a public record cannot be read back as a daily routine.
Elsewhere
How other apps do live tracking
Strava Beacon sends a live location to nominated safety contacts and is available free in the Strava app. Garmin LiveTrack sends a link to chosen contacts and stays free with a Garmin device; a paid Connect+ plan adds automatic text messages when a session starts. Runkeeper's live tracking is part of the paid Go plan. AllTrails offers live activity sharing on its paid Plus tier. Komoot added live tracking to contacts in a 2026 update. Nike Run Club and Runna: we could not verify a live-tracking feature in either, so treat that as not verified rather than absent.
The design difference is who the feature is for. Every one of those is built for the runner to reassure a few contacts. Waypath's is built for a course, so that a whole field can be watched by anyone holding the link, and it is free on the free tier rather than a reason to subscribe. Both designs are valid; they answer different questions.
Limits
What live tracking in Waypath will not do
- No timing. Positions come from phones and refresh roughly twice a minute. There is no start line, no chip and no official result. Use a timing company for results.
- No signal, no update. The recording continues offline and sharing resumes when the signal does, but a spectator sees nothing new while the runner is in a dead zone.
- Two events at a time. A person can have two active clubs, two events and two challenges at once. A club that organises a lot will feel that ceiling.
- Runners need Waypath. Spectators need nothing, but every dot on the map is a runner who installed the app on an iPhone and opted in. An Android app is planned for January 2027.
Written on 4 September 2026 and correct to the best of our knowledge on that day. Competitor apps and prices change often; where a competitor detail is marked "not verified" we could not confirm it from the vendor's own material and you should check theirs. Waypath is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any company named here, and all trademarks belong to their owners.
Questions
Questions people ask
The feature page: Live tracking.
Do spectators need the app or an account?
No. The live link opens in any browser, on any device, with nothing to install and no sign-up. Only the runner needs Waypath on an iPhone.
Is live tracking free in Waypath?
Yes. Live sharing, for one run or for an event course, is part of the free tier with no time limit.
How often does the position update?
About twice a minute while the runner has signal. When the signal drops, the recording continues and sharing resumes when it returns.
Can it be used for a race result?
No. It is a spectator view and not a timing system. It shows where people are on the course; it does not produce times or placings.
Who can see the link?
Anyone who holds it. The URL is the key, the page loads no third-party script that could see it, and it is marked not to be indexed. It stops when the run ends.
Send a link. That is the whole setup.
Free live sharing for a run or an event course, watched from any browser with no app and no account.
Requires iPhone. There is no Android app today; one is planned for January 2027.