How to Show GPS, Maps and Phone Tracking On Screen

Chase scenes, dashboard GPS, a character tracking someone's phone — maps on screen are common, but real map apps carry real logos and real data that need clearance. Here's how to avoid that.

The general methods people use

1. Clear the real map app

Some productions pursue clearance to show Google Maps or Apple Maps on screen directly. This is the only route that shows the actual familiar app, but it takes time, isn't guaranteed, and the map data itself (real street names, live traffic styling) belongs to that provider too.

2. Static map graphics

A designer builds a fake map image — a route drawn over a stylised city — as a single graphic, shown as a photo or background on the phone. Fine for a glance shot of "a map is open", but it can't show live navigation, a moving position dot, or changing traffic, and a new graphic is needed for every route or city.

3. Screen-recorded navigation video

A route is driven or scrolled through in a real map app, screen-recorded, and played back on the prop phone. This can look like real navigation for a few seconds, but the timing is fixed to the recording, not to how the scene is actually shot or how long the take runs.

4. A purpose-built, non-branded map engine

The most flexible option is a mapping system with its own visual style — not a copy of a recognisable branded map — that still draws from real street and traffic data, so it can be searched, routed and driven live like the real thing, anywhere in the world.

How PhoneGuy does it

PhoneGuy has built its own map application, with its own visual style, its own icons and its own app chrome — no Google or Apple branding anywhere — while still drawing real streets, real routes and real traffic data for any city in the world. Because the look is entirely PhoneGuy's own design rather than a recognisable trademarked map product, it does not need map clearance the way a real branded map would, even though the underlying geography is real.

On screen it can show a typed address or coordinate search, a route overview with travel time and distance, live turn-by-turn navigation with a heading-up camera view, and traffic rendered in red and yellow on real road segments — plus walking, driving and transit route types. A route can be set up as a sequence of states that follow the script: normal driving, then traffic building up ahead, then the character taking an alternative road — all without needing a live network connection, since PhoneGuy works offline on set.

The same real-road engine powers PhoneGuy's phone-tracking screens: a fictional, clearance-safe tracking app that shows a target's position as a moving dot on the map, a history trail, last-seen timestamps and alerts, run live or stepped through on a timeline during the take. This covers the common thriller or crime-drama beat of a character watching someone's location update in real time, without showing a real tracking or map product's branding.

Because these are beats like every other PhoneGuy screen, the operator can trigger "traffic just appeared" or "the tracked dot just moved" exactly on the actor's reaction, and reset the map to its starting state before the next take.

Steps

1. Pick the route or location — Decide the real city, streets or route the scene needs, and whether traffic should build up mid-scene.
2. Build the map beats — Set up the search, the route overview and the navigation states the script calls for, in sequence.
3. Add tracking if needed — For a tracking scene, place the target's moving dot, history trail and alert timing as its own beat sequence.
4. Mount or hand off the phone — Use the phone in a dashboard holder or handheld, matching how the character would actually use it.
5. Trigger live during the take — The operator advances the route state — traffic appearing, a turn, a tracked dot moving — exactly on cue.
6. Reset for the next take — Return the map to its starting state so every take begins on the same first frame.

FAQ

Do I need to clear Google Maps or Apple Maps to show navigation on screen?

Not if you use a non-branded map app like PhoneGuy's — it shows its own design rather than a recognisable branded map product.

Is the map data real, or just a graphic?

It's based on real street and traffic data for cities worldwide, not a static image, so it can be searched and routed anywhere.

Can traffic change mid-scene?

Yes — a route can be scripted as a sequence of states, including traffic building up or an alternative road appearing.

Can it show someone tracking another phone's location?

Yes, PhoneGuy includes a fictional, clearance-safe tracking app with a moving position dot, history trail and alerts.

Does navigation need a live signal on set?

No, routes and traffic states are prepared and then run fully offline.

Can the clock be hidden if the script doesn't specify a time?

Yes, the clock and other status-bar details can be hidden or set per beat.

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