It is close to real time-I use Cyclemeter. Have used it for over 2 years. It emails who ever I designate at certain intervals of time, say every hour. So my wife knows when I start, when I stop for an extended lunch, and when I stop for the day, and quite a bit more in between. It gives her all the metrics of speed, distance travelled, where I am, maps, etc. The Elite version is $5/year. Works great with my iPhone 5S-as long as the battery is charged and there is cell service-although, even though I was in areas where there was no cell service, it still worked fine, so I'm not sure how that happened but it did. There are lots more metrics that I use and others that I don't. I also use it with the Wahoo RFLKT+. Kept the cell phone in my handlebar bag, most of the time.