Parcel tracking apps are very convenient for various reasons; they give you updated information about where your shipment is, and you also come to know what is happening with your parcels.
In this digital age, we are lucky to have smartphones that are making life easy (and somewhat chaotic also). However, for the purpose of wanting to know where your belongings are, you will either need to check tracking update on the website for that shipping carrier or directly download one of the below-mentioned parcel tracking apps.
What to Look for in Parcel Tracking Apps
There was a time when tracking shipment was a tedious process of calling the carrier and getting routed to different departments. Not anymore, not since parcel tracking apps were developed making the whole process efficient.
Once you read the below list of best parcel tracking apps according to us, you may get confused as to which you should download; so here are a few things first which you need to look for in a parcel tracking app before downloading or buying its subscription.
Effortless Adding Process
The most basic of all functionalities is this self-explanatory task. The app should allow you to add parcels without a hassle. Some apps allow a barcode scan which essentially means that you point your smartphone camera towards the barcode and it will pick the tracking number. These apps are single purpose apps. If you are going to have one job, you might as well make it easy to use.
The usual process is that the app allows you to copy/paste in the section of tracking number.
Multiple Carrier Support & Auto Detect
There are many shipping carriers. You may already be aware of DHL, FedEx, USPS, UPS, Royal Mail and Parcel Force, etc. But each of these companies has many shipping solutions catering to the whole world, which is why you need to look for a parcel tracking app that supports maximum number of international shipper and solutions as well
With over 360 shippers out there, you also need to look for auto-detect functionality. This feature will enable the app to detect the shipping solution automatically rather than have you select one manually.
Push Notifications
Push notifications can sometimes irritate, and these can be turned off, but it’s a nice-to-have feature if the app supports push notifications.We don’t want to be required to open the app to find out status updates. When something is delivered, getting a push notification is an easy way to know.
If enabled, you will be notified on the lock screen of your device when there are updates.
Now for the are available on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone.
AfterShip
Available for free iOS, Android, and Windows Phone, AfterShip is one of the best glitch-free parcel tracking apps out there. The app is free on all platforms and supports over 300 shipping carriers, which is only ideal.
The app auto-detects the tracking number. It doesn’t matter if you are copy/pasting or scanning it via the barcode reader. Once added, you can give the shipment a name and enable push notifications.
What we like best about AfterShip is that it doesn’t hang-up at all and allows other nifty features such as adding notes, pictures and also manually select the shipper if you wish to.
ParcelTrack
Available for free on iOS, Android and Windows Phone, ParcelTrack attempts to smooth your parcel tracking experience the same way AfterShip does but with an added perk.
First the basics, this app can auto-detect carrier tracking information from the delivery service and send push notification as well. You have the option of the barcode scanner and manual input of tracking number as well. This app supports a map so you will be able to look up the location and see live tracking (if your parcel is in Europe).
Now for some perks; ParcelTrack shows delivery schedules for some carrier services like DHL, DHL Express, UPS and FedEx. Some of you may love this functionality especially if you are one of those who enjoy receiving shipments.
Another perk is the Shipment Inbox. ParcelTrack gives a particular ID with email inbox, simply forward your delivery emails from Amazon or other stores to your ParcelTrack inbox. The server will conveniently locate the tracking number from that email and add the order to your account and keep you updated on the progress of your purchase.
Parcel
Available on iOS only, Parcel can be used across all Apple devices such as iPad, iPhone, Macs and Apple watches.
Parcel offers to detect from over 300 worldwide shipping carriers. As usual, the option to manually add the tracking number is there along with barcode scanning functionality. The app comes with a map feature which enables you to locate the parcel on it.
Push notifications come with a sleep mode and you are allowed to add only three shipments unless you pay the annual premium subscription of $1.99/Year. Paid members also get the Parcel Email functionality which is essentially your unique email address for adding deliveries automatically to your Parcel account.
17Track
Available for free on iOS, Android and Windows Phone, 17track is once again one of the best parcel tracking apps that manage to get updated regularly. You will also notice that if you use the sidebar widget on the right side you will get far more details on shipment especially if they are being transported via country-specific carriers.
You will also notice that if you use the sidebar widget on the right side you will get far more details on shipment especially if they are being transported via country-specific carriers.
Like others mentioned previously, 17Track autodetects the carrier delivering your parcels and goes one step further and auto-translates the tracking information to your language. It has the barcode & QR scanning functionality as well as widgets for the home screen and landscape mode for tablets.
Push notifications pretty much work the same as others and you can additionally pull-to-refresh the updates.
That’s a wrap for parcel tracking apps. We’ll be increasing this list once we have tested out more apps. Stay tuned, and if you know an app which is user-friendly, glitch free, updated regularly and adds value to this, then drop us an email via our contact page, we’d love to hear from you.