FindPenguins
It records your travel route via GPS and lets you add photos and stories to build a shareable, map-based travel journal.
A free travel journal that maps the route while the phone stays in your pocket.
FindPenguins is a free travel tracker and journal app that records where you go and turns each trip into a visual story. Once the Travel Tracker is switched on, the phone quietly logs the route in the background, even offline, so the journey appears as a line on an interactive world map.
Along the way, travelers add posts called Footprints, each with a location, date, text, photos, and videos. Friends and family can follow the trip as it unfolds, while privacy settings decide who sees what and when.
The app covers the full cycle of a journey: planning an itinerary, documenting it on the road, and reliving it afterwards through 3D flyover videos or an optional printed hardcover travel book. It suits road trips, backpacking routes, city breaks, and long-distance walks alike.
Apps are frequently updated and may change over time. While we aim to keep our reviews accurate and up to date, some information may become outdated or no longer reflect the current version.
Disclaimer ▽ (click open)
How to Use
Getting started takes a few minutes. After creating a free account in the iOS or Android app, users set up a trip, give it a name and dates, and can add an itinerary or travel documents such as tickets and reservations.
Before leaving, the Travel Tracker is switched on. From then on, the phone logs the route using GPS, Wi-Fi, and mobile signals, and keeps working in flight mode or without data. The app recognizes flights and separates travel by plane, car, train, or on foot, so the map shows how each stretch was covered.
During the trip, users tap the plus button to post a Footprint. The current location is preselected, and the user adds a title, a short story, and photos or videos. Several Footprints can be posted per day, and drafts can be saved and uploaded later when a connection is available.
Followers receive updates as new Footprints appear and can comment along the way. Back home, the route can be cleaned up in the route editor, posts can be edited on the website, and a flyover video is generated with one tap. When the trip is complete, the book feature lays out every story, map, and photo automatically, ready to order.
Strongest Points:
✓ Fully free with no subscriptions or locked features
✓ Battery-friendly route tracking that works offline
✓ Detailed privacy controls including delayed location sharing
✓ Free 3D flyover videos of the recorded route
✓ Travel books that design themselves from existing posts
Weaker Points:
✕ Printed travel books are relatively expensive
✕ No manual layout editor for the photo book
✕ Caps of 40 photos and 15 videos per Footprint
✕ Adding many past places to a profile is slow
✕ Some users report small distance and route-editing glitches
How to Use
Getting started takes a few minutes. After creating a free account in the iOS or Android app, users set up a trip, give it a name and dates, and can add an itinerary or travel documents such as tickets and reservations.
Before leaving, the Travel Tracker is switched on. From then on, the phone logs the route using GPS, Wi-Fi, and mobile signals, and keeps working in flight mode or without data. The app recognizes flights and separates travel by plane, car, train, or on foot, so the map shows how each stretch was covered.
During the trip, users tap the plus button to post a Footprint. The current location is preselected, and the user adds a title, a short story, and photos or videos. Several Footprints can be posted per day, and drafts can be saved and uploaded later when a connection is available.
Followers receive updates as new Footprints appear and can comment along the way. Back home, the route can be cleaned up in the route editor, posts can be edited on the website, and a flyover video is generated with one tap. When the trip is complete, the book feature lays out every story, map, and photo automatically, ready to order.
Strongest Points:
✓ Fully free with no subscriptions or locked features
✓ Battery-friendly route tracking that works offline
✓ Detailed privacy controls including delayed location sharing
✓ Free 3D flyover videos of the recorded route
✓ Travel books that design themselves from existing posts
Weaker Points:
✕ Printed travel books are relatively expensive
✕ No manual layout editor for the photo book
✕ Caps of 40 photos and 15 videos per Footprint
✕ Adding many past places to a profile is slow
✕ Some users report small distance and route-editing glitches
Use it For:
🎒 Backpackers and long-term travelers who want a complete record of a multi-country route without logging it by hand.
🚗 Road trippers who want every stretch of the drive mapped automatically.
👨👩👧 Travelers who want family at home to follow along, with delayed location sharing for added safety.
🥾 Long-distance walkers and pilgrims, such as those on the Camino, who post short updates each day.
📖 Anyone who wants a finished printed photo book of a trip without designing it themselves.
App Usable on:
Phone
Tablet
PC
TV
Applications and Features
The core of FindPenguins is its route tracking. Beyond simply drawing a line, the route editor can fine-tune paths after the fact and automatically fill gaps, for example when a phone battery ran out halfway through a day. Trip statistics then break down distances by transport type, from flights and trains to cycling and walking.
Privacy is a clear strength. Posts and individual photos can be set to private, shared only with a close friends group, or opened through private links that work with or without a FindPenguins account. Delayed tracking hides live location until the traveler has moved on, and the app shows which followers have viewed each update.
Footprints go further than a photo and caption. Each one can hold captions per photo, photo-level locations, up to five attached documents, and a GPX file for detailed hiking or cycling routes. Fellow travelers can be added to the same trip, and finished trips or single Footprints can be embedded on a personal website or blog.
For inspiration, the Explore section opens an archive of more than 10 million shared travel experiences. At the end, travelers can choose between a premium hardcover book of up to 400 pages and a lay-flat edition on thick photo paper, both in two square sizes.
▽ Gadgets Related to this App ▽
App Summary
FindPenguins is a travel tracker and digital journal for people who want a lasting, organized record of where they have been. It works best on multi-stop journeys such as road trips, backpacking routes, and long walks, where automatic route logging saves real effort.
Its standout features are the offline, battery-friendly tracker, flexible privacy settings, free flyover videos, and a travel book that designs itself from existing posts. Everything in the app is free, which makes it easy to try on a single trip.
The main limitations are the cost of printed books, the lack of a manual book editor, and a structure built around posts rather than quick check-ins. Travelers who only want to tick off countries may find it more involved than needed, while those who enjoy documenting a journey get a complete, well-organized tool.
Pricing:
Free
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FindPenguins is completely free, with no subscription and no locked features since its former Premium plan was discontinued. The only paid extra is the optional printed travel book, which starts at $41.99 for a 24-page, 21 cm hardcover and climbs to $271.99 for a 400-page, 30 cm edition, with lay-flat versions costing more.
Learning Difficulty:
The app is quick to learn because tracking starts with a single switch and every Footprint follows the same simple location, title, story, and photo layout, while the route editor and privacy options only take a little extra time to explore.
Required Skill Sets:
Only basic smartphone skills are needed, although some comfort with writing helps travelers get more out of their Footprint posts.
Educational Content:
Questions & Answers: ⮛ (click to open)
Is FindPenguins really free?
Yes. FindPenguins ended its paid Premium membership and now offers every feature at no cost, including tracking, unlimited trips and Footprints, and flyover videos. The company earns money from its printed travel books, which are entirely optional.
Does the tracker drain the battery or need mobile data?
The tracker combines GPS, Wi-Fi, and mobile signals and keeps working offline, including in flight mode. FindPenguins states that it uses roughly 4% extra battery per day, so it can run in the background for an entire trip without needing a data plan.
Can friends and family follow a trip without the app?
Yes. Trips and Footprints can be shared through private links that open in a browser, with or without a FindPenguins account. Followers who do install the app get notifications for new Footprints and can comment along the way.
How does the printed travel book work?
The book is generated automatically from a trip’s Footprints, including texts, dates, maps, photos, statistics, and optionally friends’ comments. There is no drag-and-drop editor, so changes are made by editing the Footprints and recreating the preview. Books come as a premium hardcover with up to 400 pages or a lay-flat edition with up to 118 pages, each in 21 cm and 30 cm square sizes, printed on FSC-certified paper by local printers.
Good to Knows: ⮛ (click to open)
• Footprints can also be written and edited on the findpenguins.com website, which is handy for longer stories.
• When one account is used on several devices, the tracker should run on only one of them.
• Draft Footprints stay on the device where they were created until they are published.
• Past trips can be added manually, and existing routes can be imported as GPX files.
• The app is available in 17 languages, including English, German, Dutch, French, and Spanish.
Takeaways: ⮛ (click to open)
• FindPenguins offers a full-featured travel journal at no cost, which is rare in this category.
• The automatic, offline tracker removes most of the effort of documenting a route.
• Strong privacy tools make it a safer choice for sharing live travel updates.
• The printed book is convenient but is the main cost to budget for.
• It suits travelers who enjoy telling the story of a trip more than those who just want a country counter.
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