As some of you may have read from our websites and product pages, there are upcoming changes to our apps that will be coming into effect starting 2022.
Since launching our app based GPS Trackers in 2010, Google map services were provided free of charge for our apps. Our customers and partners have been able to benefit from this for over a decade.
However, In 2017′ Google map services notified us of potential service fees for using their maps in our tracking apps and will do so within the next 5 years. Unfortunately these charges came into effect in 2020 for us, notably during the pandemic. We feel it is unfair to charge our customers worldwide without a proper notice in advance, so we have decided to cover these costs up until the 1st of January 2022.
This cost is to keep our apps updated with the latest mapping and also on-going app security maintenence, which as we know is vital when it comes to searching for your lost pet, stolen car or a lost family member.
So what does this mean for current Petrek, LiveTrek, SafeTrek and iDrive/Ultimate9 users?
No payments for the app required up until at least the 1st of January 2022 apart from making sure your prepay SIM is topped up once a year so that it does not expire.
What if I’ve just purchased one or is about to purchase one of the above GPS units?
You won’t need to worry about any app payments for the first 12 months starting from it’s first day of usage.
For example, if you purchased your unit recently on the 5th of May 2021 and started usage on the same day, you won’t need to worry about app payments until 5th of May 2022.
What is the cost? Is the cost per app or per tracking unit/device? And how do I pay?
The cost is per tracking device per year, as Google map charges fees based on what is connected onto their servers.
The cost per tracker will be $15usd for every 12 months used starting from the second year of your usage.
When you’ve used up your first 12 months or when your app is about to expire you’ll see from the bottom menu of the app an expiration information bar, simply click on it for it to bring out the payment page to complete the payment.
The bottom information page is the one where you change the update frequency of your tracker and where you also check signal strengths of each update.
Is this a subscription? Can I pay only when I decide to make use of the device?
Yes you can, this is not a subscription but a 12 month prepay service. If your unit is not required after the second year then you are not required to make any app payments until you would like to make use of your unit again.
However, the prepay SIM in your tracker may require a top up once a year with the network provider to keep active. We and our agents, do provide SIM replacement services if your SIM expires.
Please note that once the 12 month service fee has been paid there is no refunds or balanced refunds for the month(s) that you did not use the unit/device.
Is there any other changes?
No there isn’t, everything else including it’s current usage is the same, you can still track where your cat goes and where you left your trailer. The only difference now is the service payment so we can keep the app running with the latest map provided by Google.
Thank you all for your understanding and continual support through the past decade
We hope we have explained the changes as clear as possible.
-The Lintek Team