Share GPS: NMEA, gpsd & KML

Share GPS turns your Android phone or tablet into an open-standards GPS receiver for laptops, chartplotters, Raspberry Pi systems, and other devices or apps that need live position data.

It uses the standard formats navigation and mapping software already understands: NMEA 0183, gpsd, and KML. There is no Share GPS-specific protocol or receiving app.

LIVE GPS OUTPUT

• NMEA 0183 sentences, using the device's native NMEA output or generated from Android location fixes

• A built-in gpsd-compatible server that answers common gpsd commands, for clients such as cgps, xgps, gpspipe, and OpenCPN

• Network over Wi-Fi or mobile data: NMEA over TCP (server or client) or UDP (client); gpsd over TCP or UDP (server)

• Bluetooth: serial port profile (SPP), which appears as a COM or serial port on the computer

• USB: through the Android debug bridge (adb) port forward

REMOTE CONNECTIONS

To reach the phone from outside your local network, run the connection over a VPN. Share GPS has been tested with Tailscale; OpenVPN, WireGuard, or any VPN that gives the two devices an IP route to each other should work the same way.

KML FOR GOOGLE EARTH AND OTHER KML READERS

• Placemark: write your current position to a KMZ file, once or repeatedly, so someone else can follow along with a network link

• Track: record where you have been, pause and resume, then save the track to the library

• Send a recording live while it grows, or send a saved track later

• Destinations: an SSH server (SCP, with password or key), Google Drive, local storage, or any app through Android's share sheet

• Choose the placemark icon, and attach your own icons and photos (Premium)

GPS DASHBOARD

• Position and motion layouts showing coordinates, altitude, speed, direction, distance travelled, distance from start, and track time

• Your choice of units and coordinate formats

• One-tap copy, with a template you can edit to build a link or message around your location

• Satellites view: constellation, signal strength, and which satellites are used in the fix

• Accuracy view: DOP values and estimated error

• Optional mean-sea-level altitude correction

• Dark and Daylight themes

RUNS IN THE BACKGROUND

Share GPS keeps streaming and recording with the screen off. A notification shows that it is running and can display live position, motion, or track data.

PREMIUM (ONE-TIME PURCHASE)

Free includes one saved connection profile and up to two saved tracks. Premium adds:

• Several connections running at the same time

• Connect automatically when the app starts

• Multi-server: more than one client on the same port

• More than two saved tracks

• Custom icons and photos in KML placemarks and tracks

No ads. GPS data is shared only through the connections you configure.

User guide and support: https://www.brilliantmantis.com/apps/share-gps/