I have followed Google's instructions and am relying totally on the
Android app to see my Timeline.

I would like to get the data to my laptop, to use some third-party
program to display and edit it,

Where is that data kept on my Android phone?

Thanks.

And I would also like recommendations for that kind of software, for OS
X. Preferably something that

(1) Does a good job of rendering.

(2) Has, itself, a geographical database, so that it can ...

(3) ... do "snap to" for roads and sidewalks (both of which Google Maps
used to do) and for buses, troleys, and trains (which Google Maps never
did.)

All advice gratefully welcomed.

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

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On 6/9/2024 11:42 PM, Dudley Brooks wrote:

Where is that data kept on my Android phone?

firebase?

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On 6/9/24 3:20 PM, Enrico Papaloma wrote:

On 6/9/2024 11:42 PM, Dudley Brooks wrote:

Where is that data kept on my Android phone?

firebase?

firebase.google.com says

"Firebase is a set of backend cloud computing services and application development platforms provided by Google."

I'm talking about the fact that now (for those like me who have already followed Google's instructions) or in the near future (for those who
have not yet done it) the Timeline database is (or will be) stored *only
on your actual physical cellphone*, not in the cloud.

I need to find out the actual location of that data on the cellphone.

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

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On 6/10/2024 1:35 AM, Dudley Brooks wrote:

I need to find out the actual location of that data on the cellphone.

What do you see when you go to "Android Settings > Google"
and then at the bottom you tap on "Firebase App Indexing"
and then you click on "Maps com.google.android.apps.maps"?

I see every location I searched for in Google Maps listed there.

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Dudley Brooks wrote:

Where is Google Maps Timeline stored on Android?

It used to be sent to google's servers, now they are changinging to
keeping it "privately" on device

<https://www.androidpolice.com/google-maps-timeline-location-data-on-device-migration>

I would like to get the data to my laptop, to use some third-party
program to display and edit it,

Seems like timeline on the web will disappear, so beware of using
anything that scrapes the data t your laptop that way, it's likely to
stop working ...

<https://support.google.com/maps/answer/14169818>

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I guess I was not clear enough:

On 6/10/24 1:10 AM, Andy Burns wrote:

Dudley Brooks wrote:

Where is Google Maps Timeline stored on Android?

It used to be sent to google's servers, now they are changinging to
keeping it "privately" on device

<https://www.androidpolice.com/google-maps-timeline-location-data-on-device-migration>

Yes, I know.

I already did that on Tue Jun 4.

So the .json files for all my pre-Jun 4 Timeline are now on my laptop.
I can see those files in my Downloads. (And, of course, they are no
longer on Google's Cloud servers.)

But for all the trips I have taken *since* Jun 4, that Timeline is now
stored *somewhere* on my cellphone.

And neither the site you directed me to, nor anything else I can find
online, tells me *exactly where* they are stored -- what filename, in
what directory? *That's* what I'm asking!

I would like to get the data to my laptop, to use some third-party
program to display and edit it,

And that's *why* I'm asking. This is important! I want to use this
data in some good map-display software (which I've also been asking for recommendations about).

I did learn from the article you linked to that since I already had
Google Backup turned on, my Timeline is part of my data being backed up
to Google.

The article is not clear about one question -- but I've come to expect
lack of clarity from Google:

Does that include my old downloaded pre-Jun 4 data? Or only my new
post-Jun 4 data?

To possibly find out, and to check on what was backed up, I followed the
link's instructions for Import Your Timeline Data From a Backup
(stopping before actually importing it).

I did Maps | <profile picture> | Your Timeline | <cloud icon> | Your
backups | <my device> | <three dots>

I was then supposed to see the option Import -- but that option did not
exist.

Then I looked at Backup | Google Account Data in my Settings ... and I
didn't see *anything* about Timeline! Even though Backup in general was
turned on long ago, and Timeline Backup was turned on in the Maps app on
Jun 4.

(Backup in Settings shows Apps, Photos & Videos, SMS & MMS Messages,
Call History, Device Settings, and Google Account Settings being backed up

Google Account Settings shows Contacts, Keep Notes, Google TV, Calendar,
Drive, and Gmail being backed up.

But nothing about Timeline.)

I think I read somewhere that Google backs things up to Google Drive.
So I looked at Google Drive, which I had never really looked at in
detail before.

There was a long list of folders and files which I simply did not have
the time to examine thoroughly, especially since many of them had
obscure names.

I searched on "google", "maps", "timeline", "data", and every
combination of two, three, or all four of those ... and every search
only showed *my own* files which happened to have those words.

So if Timeline is being backed up ... where is it???

And if it's on my cellphone (which it is) ... where is it???

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

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On 6/9/24 11:31 PM, Enrico Papaloma wrote:

On 6/10/2024 1:35 AM, Dudley Brooks wrote:

I need to find out the actual location of that data on the cellphone.

What do you see when you go to "Android Settings > Google"
and then at the bottom you tap on "Firebase App Indexing"
and then you click on "Maps com.google.android.apps.maps"?

I see every location I searched for in Google Maps listed there.

I assume that by "Android Settings" you mean "Settings" on my Android
phone. (I don't see anything called "Android Settings".)

I did Settings | Google.

I do not see "Firebase App Indexing". All I see are Recommended (which
does not include anything about Firebase) and All Services.

All Services includes Backup, Devices and Sharing, and Settings for
Google Apps.

None of those include Firebase.

So I don't know how to find Firebase on my cellphone.

But for more detail about exactly what I am trying to do, and exactly
what I tried (unsuccessfuly) to do it, please switch over to my June 10
9:40 AM reply to Andy Burns.

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

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Dudley Brooks wrote on Mon, 10 Jun 2024 09:52:00 -0700 :

What do you see when you go to "Android Settings > Google"
and then at the bottom you tap on "Firebase App Indexing"
and then you click on "Maps com.google.android.apps.maps"?

I see every location I searched for in Google Maps listed there.

I assume that by "Android Settings" you mean "Settings" on my Android
phone. (I don't see anything called "Android Settings".)

Yes. Android 13: Settings > Google services > Firebase App Indexing https://support.google.com/android/thread/18328571/why-is-there-a-firebase-app-indexing-option-under-accounts-with-several-google-apps-listed

I assume everyone turns Developer Options on the instant they get any
Android phone, so you may need to do that if you haven't done so already. https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/213149/what-is-firebase-app-indexing-under-google-services-settings

Firebase App Indexing saves a ton of personal data on your phone. https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/231849/stop-gms-firebase-indexing-from-collecting-all-of-the-personal-data

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Andy Burns wrote on Mon, 10 Jun 2024 09:10:16 +0100 :

Seems like timeline on the web will disappear, so beware of using
anything that scrapes the data t your laptop that way, it's likely to
stop working ...
<https://support.google.com/maps/answer/14169818>

While a lot of people WANT everywhere they've searched to be saved by
Google, I'm just the opposite, where I am still trying to get the Firebase
App Indexing to stop recording every single location I search for.

Since I don't have a Google Account set up on the phone, the Google
Timeline isn't a privacy hole for me - but - Google Maps *still* saves
every single search I make in Google Maps - on the phone.

Worse. Something (I don't know what!) triggers a periodic *UPLOAD* of the Firebase App Index searches to some as-yet unknown server somehow.

I can *clear* the search database, but that only solves half the problem.
Anyone know how to clear Google Map Search results in the Android Firebase?
<https://xdaforums.com/t/privacy-anyone-know-how-to-clear-google-map-search-results-in-the-android-firebase.4369547/>

If you know of any way to prevent Firebase App Indexing from storing on the phone (and uploading to some unknown server) all searches, please advise!

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On 6/11/24 1:23 PM, Enrico Papaloma wrote:

Dudley Brooks wrote on Mon, 10 Jun 2024 09:52:00 -0700 :

What do you see when you go to "Android Settings > Google"
and then at the bottom you tap on "Firebase App Indexing"
and then you click on "Maps com.google.android.apps.maps"?

I see every location I searched for in Google Maps listed there.

This might not be what I'm looking for. I want EVERYTHING in Timeline
-- not just locations, but start and end time at locations and all the
GPS data on the route between locations.

Does what you are recommending include that?

If so, I will persevere past the difficulties in even getting THIS far,
which I describe below.

I assume that by "Android Settings" you mean "Settings" on my Android
phone. (I don't see anything called "Android Settings".)

Yes. Android 13: Settings > Google services > Firebase App Indexing https://support.google.com/android/thread/18328571/why-is-there-a-firebase-app-indexing-option-under-accounts-with-several-google-apps-listed

I assume everyone turns Developer Options on the instant they get any
Android phone, so you may need to do that if you haven't done so already. https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/213149/what-is-firebase-app-indexing-under-google-services-settings

This doesn't tell how to turn on (or even locate!) Firebase App Indexing
on the phone ... so I looked it up online. I discovered that I need to
find Build Number and do something with it.

Apparently Google changes its UI so frequently (as do most computer
companies, unfortunately) that it's hard to find instructions that are
correct for the version one has. I included "Android 14 UI 6.1" in my
search (and I don't know what part, if any, of that info actually got
used in the search).

I tried several returned pages, and finally one of them got me partway:

https://support.google.com/android/community-guide/273205728/how-to-enable-developer-options-on-android-pixels-6-secret-android-tips?hl=en

Unfortunately, it says that Settings/About Phone will include Build
Number ... but it doesn't. Luckily, I saw that it does include Software Information and figured that THAT might include Build Number ... and it did!

I did the required 7 taps on Build Number and successfully turned on
Developer Mode

It then says to go back to Settings/System/Developer Options ... but, in
fact (and luckily!) it turned out to be simply Settings/Developer Options.

However ... Developer Options does NOT include Firebase App Indexing!

So, as for Maps com.google.android.apps.maps (which at this point I can
only HOPE that I will find under Firebase App Indexing ... IF I can even
find THAT) ... unless it can do what I mention at the top that I am
looking for, I'm not willing to waste any more time on this frustrating
search nonsense.

Why do software developers feel like they have to change EVERYTHING, ALL
THE TIME???

(Gee, something like that would make a good title for a movie!)

Firebase App Indexing saves a ton of personal data on your phone. https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/231849/stop-gms-firebase-indexing-from-collecting-all-of-the-personal-data

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

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On 6/13/2024 5:03 PM, Dudley Brooks wrote:

I did the required 7 taps on Build Number and successfully turned on Developer Mode

The Developer options in Android has always been like editing the registry
in Windows, where if you're going to turn it on, you're supposed to know
how to do that and what to do with all the options that it make available.

However ... Developer Options does NOT include Firebase App Indexing!

I saw "Settings > Google services > Firebase App Indexing" in Android 13
only after I turned on "Developer options", so I assume you'd see the same.

Firebase App Indexing saves a ton of personal data on your phone.
https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/231849/stop-gms-firebase-indexing-from-collecting-all-of-the-personal-data

I agree with you that there's not a lot on the Internet about Firebase App Indexing on Android once you turn on the Developer options. You're just supposed to know all about it, I guess, simply because it exists. :(

https://support.google.com/android/thread/18328571/why-is-there-a-firebase-app-indexing-option-under-accounts-with-several-google-apps-listed
https://xdaforums.com/t/privacy-anyone-know-how-to-clear-google-map-search-results-in-the-android-firebase.4369547/
https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/gdg-oslo-hidden-android-features/75463195#23

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On 6/13/24 4:34 PM, Enrico Papaloma wrote:

On 6/13/2024 5:03 PM, Dudley Brooks wrote:

I did the required 7 taps on Build Number and successfully turned on
Developer Mode

The Developer options in Android has always been like editing the registry
in Windows, where if you're going to turn it on, you're supposed to know
how to do that and what to do with all the options that it make available.

Yep.

However ... Developer Options does NOT include Firebase App Indexing!

I saw "Settings > Google services > Firebase App Indexing" in Android 13
only after I turned on "Developer options", so I assume you'd see the same.

Nope. An "improvement" between 13 and 14, I guess.

Firebase App Indexing saves a ton of personal data on your phone.
https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/231849/stop-gms-firebase-indexing-from-collecting-all-of-the-personal-data

I agree with you that there's not a lot on the Internet about Firebase App Indexing on Android once you turn on the Developer options. You're just supposed to know all about it, I guess, simply because it exists. :(

Yep.

https://support.google.com/android/thread/18328571/why-is-there-a-firebase-app-indexing-option-under-accounts-with-several-google-apps-listed
https://xdaforums.com/t/privacy-anyone-know-how-to-clear-google-map-search-results-in-the-android-firebase.4369547/
https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/gdg-oslo-hidden-android-features/75463195#23

The last one sounds interesting. I'll check it out ... later ... and
see if it applies to the *current* Android version! ;^)

Thanks!


--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

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On 6/14/2024 2:00 PM, Dudley Brooks wrote:

https://support.google.com/android/thread/18328571/why-is-there-a-firebase-app-indexing-option-under-accounts-with-several-google-apps-listed
https://xdaforums.com/t/privacy-anyone-know-how-to-clear-google-map-search-results-in-the-android-firebase.4369547/
https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/gdg-oslo-hidden-android-features/75463195#23

The last one sounds interesting. I'll check it out ... later ... and
see if it applies to the *current* Android version! ;^)

Page 23 of the powerpoint slide is about Firebase App Indexing.
If you can figure out what it does, please let me and everyone else know.

As far as I can "see" with my own eyes, the Firebase App Index on my phone
is uploaded periodically (roughly about once a month it seems) to
"somewhere" but I don't know where it's uploaded to.

It just says the last time that it was uploaded, which is usually within a month - but it doesn't say what initiated the upload nor to where.

If that wasn't disconcerting enough, it has all the places I've ever
searched for in that month and worse, it has all my contacts that I've contacted, and worse it has every app I've used and for how long I've used them, etc.

So this Firebase App Indexing contains a lot of private data that I did not
ask to be saved and uploaded - and yet - it's saved and uploaded somewhere.

Of course I've searched for what the purpose is of the Firebase App
Indexing, and all I can glean from the results is that it's something developers are supposed to be interested in for purposes somehow related to Google Searches.

I wish someone would explain to me what Firebase App Indexing is doing.

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On 6/14/24 1:21 PM, Enrico Papaloma wrote:

On 6/14/2024 2:00 PM, Dudley Brooks wrote:

https://support.google.com/android/thread/18328571/why-is-there-a-firebase-app-indexing-option-under-accounts-with-several-google-apps-listed
https://xdaforums.com/t/privacy-anyone-know-how-to-clear-google-map-search-results-in-the-android-firebase.4369547/
https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/gdg-oslo-hidden-android-features/75463195#23

The last one sounds interesting. I'll check it out ... later ... and
see if it applies to the *current* Android version! ;^)

Page 23 of the powerpoint slide is about Firebase App Indexing.
If you can figure out what it does, please let me and everyone else know.

As far as I can "see" with my own eyes, the Firebase App Index on my phone
is uploaded periodically (roughly about once a month it seems) to
"somewhere" but I don't know where it's uploaded to.

It just says the last time that it was uploaded, which is usually within a month - but it doesn't say what initiated the upload nor to where.

If that wasn't disconcerting enough, it has all the places I've ever
searched for in that month and worse, it has all my contacts that I've contacted, and worse it has every app I've used and for how long I've used them, etc.

So this Firebase App Indexing contains a lot of private data that I did not ask to be saved and uploaded - and yet - it's saved and uploaded somewhere.

Of course I've searched for what the purpose is of the Firebase App
Indexing, and all I can glean from the results is that it's something developers are supposed to be interested in for purposes somehow related to Google Searches.

I wish someone would explain to me what Firebase App Indexing is doing.

Amen! <Crosses two fingers in "ward off a vampire" gesture


--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

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