Life360 recently announced that its award-winning family satellite tracking application for the iPhone (News - Alert) and Android is now being used by over 500,000 families.

According to Life360, since October, the usage of the application has increased by 157 percent. This dramatic growth, says the company, clearly demonstrates the company's leadership position within the geolocation market, and particularly the expanding utility application market.

Life360 provides parents peace of mind in the way of innovative safety communications platform utilizing GPS, which help parents keep a tab on their children, while away from home. Life360's award-winning technology gives parents a way to see where their child is located, when they need help and who is around them. By equipping children with the Life360 mobile app, or a small GPS locator device available for purchase, parents can continuously track and monitor their family members.

By using the geolocation capabilities of smartphones, the Life360 app provides parents with real-time information on the location of their children. According to its maker, the app is the first to feature check-in capabilities, which provide a non-intrusive way for maintaining communication between parents and kids.

In the press release, Life360 announced that the app gained 202,000 users on the Android (News - Alert) platform and 116,000 users on the iPhone platform from October to date. During this time, Life360 was also recognized by subscribers of market and solution development company MobileVillage as a Mobile Village SUPERSTAR in the 'Navigation or Location Based Services' category.

The company that pioneered the safety and security capabilities of the smartphone with the introduction of its Android app in 2009, attributes its success to cross-platform development. With compatibility on the nation's two largest mobile operating systems, families can use the app, regardless of what type of phone each family member has.

In the release, co-founder and chief executive officer of Life360, Chris Hulls, said, “Enabling users to interact on multiple smartphone platforms has greatly expanded our potential customer base, as evidenced by our recent growth. The company recognizes that smartphones are becoming practical tools for everyday life, and our app is one of the first examples of this evolution. We're proud to be part of the paradigm shift, and look forward to continued success in 2011.”

Life360 offers free apps in the App Store and Android Market. Blackberry and Windows Mobile versions are currently in development.

In September, TMCnet reported that Life360 was selected in the Google (News - Alert) Android Developer Challenge as one of the best applications for Google’s Android mobile operating system.