I am a: Quirky sysadmin. Geek. Gamer. Comic fangirl. My little space, my home on the interwebs. I blog about personal stuffs, work, various coding projects, and anything else I feel like.

By request, this is a short ‘n sweet tutorial on how to get updates on your package’s delivery status on your mobile device. I had actually covered part of this concept in a previous post, but I’ll bet that some haven’t thought to apply this to tracking things. :)

Note:

Actually, this should work for pretty much ANY mobile device, but since I have the Helio Ocean, these directions are specific to it. :)

Credits:

• Special thanks goes to: Thox and the countless others at the Heliocity forums who’ve posted helpful information for the Helio Ocean (and countless other topics!)
• Link Love: The FAQ — if you know nothing, start here!

Tools you will need:

• Hardware: Helio Ocean
• Websites: ISnoop Universal Package Tracking, ZapTXT

Getting started:

This works for most major shipping methods (UPS, FedEx, USPS, or DHL/AirBorne). You’ll need your package tracking number. Open the ISnoop Universal Package Tracking site in your browser. Put in your tracking number and click the Track it! button. If any data has been entered in the system, you’ll see some kind of results, and a link will appear that says “Track this package via RSS”

Note: If no data is currently available, it will say “There is no data available yet for this tracking number. Please check back later.” It may need a few hours for the carrier’s system to be updated … simply try again in a few hours.

Now open the ZapTXT website. If you haven’t already setup an account, you’ll need to do so now.

Login to your ZapTXT account. Once logged in, you should be taken to your My ZapTasks page, under Custom Zaptask, put your RSS URL in the Website/feed to monitor field. Leave the keywords blank. For Send via, check Mobile (uncheck any others). Click Next step.

Note: If you have more than one tracking number/URL, you can click Add more sites to monitor and fill in those URLs there.

Here’s where it gets a little tricky:

ZapTxt will come back with the following message: “We found the following feed(s) that match the URL(s) you entered. Which of the following would you like us to monitor?”

Uncheck isnoop.net blog and check the box by your tracking number/link. Then, under Name this Zaptask name it as you’d like. (Suggestion: if tracking more than one package, you may want to label these by the sender, or the package’s contents.)

You can leave headlines and tags empty. Under What delivery method do you prefer?, make sure Mobile is checked. Then choose your preferred update frequency under How often would you like to receive updates? — I use As soon as possible to get real time updates (or as the carrier’s system is updated with a new status).

Finally, click Create ZapTask. When prompted with a popup asking if you’re sure you don’t want to assign any keyworks, click ok.

Note:

If you only wanted to be notified upon delivery, then you could add “Delivered” as a keyword. However, I wouldn’t recommend this unless you are tracking a LOT of packages. (Most of us like to know where our stuff is!)

In closing:

I hope you’ve found this helpful. I appreciate constructive feedback and comments. If a step is not clear enough or if something is confusing, please feel free to ask for clarification in the comments form below!

Thanks! :cool: