How to Build a Python Location Tracker for Desktop Apps?

 

This tutorial will show you how to create an interactive map application that allows users to input geographic coordinates and visualize locations on an interactive map using Python's Tkinter GUI framework enhanced with TTKBootstrap styling and the TkinterMapView widget. 

Prerequisite:

This tutorial is part of the standalone tutorial.

📚 View the standalone tutorial

Preliminary 

Before I begin, it is recommended to activate the virtual environment before installing the relevant dependencies.

python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate   
pip install ttkbootstrap tkintermapview

As usual, we need to import the relevant module and set the root values

from tkinter import *
import ttkbootstrap as tb
import tkintermapview
from ttkbootstrap.dialogs import Messagebox

root = tb.Window(themename='darkly')
root.title('Find My Map')
root.geometry("1200x1200")

I would like to divide it into three sections. 

a) Input Panel Layout, 

The headers are mainly a label with a map emoji. 

The main layout contains labels and input fields for latitude and longitude, followed by 2 buttons: set position and clear entries. They are set on the same row for easy navigation.

# Main header label for the application
header_label = tb.Label(root, text="Where Am I? 🗺️", font=("Helvetica", 24), 
                        bootstyle="success-inverse")
header_label.pack(pady=10)

# Create a frame to contain coordinate input controls
My_frame = tb.Frame(root, bootstyle="info")
My_frame.pack(pady=10, padx=30, fill="x", expand=False)

# Configure grid column weights for equal width distribution across 5 columns
for i in range(6):  # 6 columns (0-5)
    My_frame.columnconfigure(i, weight=1)

# Define a consistent font for input controls
my_font = ("Roboto", 12)

# Latitude label and input field
my_vertical_cordinate = tb.Label(My_frame, text="Latitude:", 
                                 font=my_font,
                                 bootstyle="info-inverse")
my_vertical_cordinate.grid(row=0, column=0, pady=5, padx=5, sticky=EW)

latitude_entry = tb.Entry(My_frame, bootstyle="info")
latitude_entry.grid(row=0, column=1, pady=5, padx=5, sticky=EW)

# Longitude label and input field
my_horizontal_cordinate = tb.Label(My_frame, text="Longitude:",
                                   font=my_font,
                                   bootstyle="info-inverse")
my_horizontal_cordinate.grid(row=0, column=2, pady=5, padx=5, sticky=EW)

longitude_entry = tb.Entry(My_frame)
longitude_entry.grid(row=0, column=3, pady=5, padx=5, sticky=EW)

# Button to set map position using entered coordinates
# Converts string inputs to floats and calls set_position method
set_position_button = tb.Button(My_frame, text="Set Position", 
                                bootstyle=("danger", "outline"),
                                command=set_map_position)
set_position_button.grid(row=0, column=4, pady=5, padx=5, sticky=EW)

# Button to clear the latitude and longitude entry fields
clear_button = tb.Button(My_frame, text="Clear Entries", 
                         bootstyle=("warning", "outline"),
                         command=clear_entries)
clear_button.grid(row=0, column=5, pady=5, padx=5, sticky=EW)

b) Mapview Layout 

Basically, a labelframe from Tkinter is required to display the map frame.

# LabelFrame container for the map widget
my_label = LabelFrame(root, text="My map")
my_label.pack(pady=20, padx=20, fill="both", expand=True)

# Create map widget with specified dimensions and no rounded corners
map_widget = tkintermapview.TkinterMapView(my_label, width=1100, 
                                           height=1100, corner_radius=0)
map_widget.pack()

# Set initial zoom level (15 is a moderately close view)
map_widget.set_zoom(15)

c) The Main Function

• Accepts latitude and longitude values through input fields
• Validates numeric input format

• Shows a scrollable/zoomable world map using OpenStreetMap tiles

• Centers the map on specified coordinates

• Places a marker at the target location

• Instantly jumps to any location worldwide

• Reset input fields for new search

def set_map_position():
    try:
        # Attempt to get and convert latitude input to a floating-point number
        lat = float(latitude_entry.get())
        # Attempt to get and convert longitude input to a floating-point number  
        lon = float(longitude_entry.get())
        # Center the map widget on the specified coordinates
        map_widget.set_position(lat, lon)     
    except ValueError:
        # This block executes if float() conversion fails (non-numeric input)
        # Display an error dialog box to inform the user
        Messagebox.show_error(
            title="Invalid coordinates.",  # Dialog title
            message="Please enter numeric values!!!"  # Error message
        )  
        # Clear the input fields after user acknowledges the error
        clear_entries()

def clear_entries():
       # Delete all text from latitude entry field (from position 0 to END)
       latitude_entry.delete(0, END)
       # Delete all text from longitude entry field (from position 0 to END)
       longitude_entry.delete(0, END)

Final Wrap-Up

This completes our tutorial on building a geographic MapViewer application with Python. We've successfully created a functional desktop application that transforms numerical coordinates into visual map locations through an intuitive graphical interface.

Published: Jan 2026

Last Updated: Jan 2026

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About the Author

Kelvin Loh is a Python developer focused on Flask, desktop applications, and business automation solutions. He shares practical tutorials and real-world coding projects to help developers and small businesses build useful applications.

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