Coordinating places with family and friends is usually a actual trouble. “I’m by an enormous tree,” “I’m standing on the nook,” and “My automobile broke down however there are not any indicators so simply drive alongside I-95 for some time” merely aren’t useful when there are a number of corners, dozens of timber, and 1,908 miles of Interstate 95.
It’s loads simpler in the event you use an app that permits you to share your location safely and privately—with out broadcasting it to the world. Apple has put instruments inside iOS for sharing your location from an iPhone, and Google has achieved the identical in Google Maps, however there are additionally a number of third-party apps that may do the job properly.
At first it might sound unsettling to let different individuals know precisely the place you might be, however you’re in full management of who has this info and the way lengthy they’ve it for—and the following time you’re attempting to satisfy up with somebody, this will prevent a complete lot of time and a complete lot of messages.
Glympse
Among the many apps particularly constructed for location sharing, Glympse is among the most complete and competent. It’s nice for fast, custom-made location sharing with individuals who won’t all be utilizing the identical model of telephone or the identical apps, and there are mapping instruments contained in the app that may enable you discover family and friends.
You possibly can ship location shares—known as, appropriately sufficient, glympses—over e mail, textual content, or by way of different apps in addition to Glympse. If the recipient is on a pc, or utilizing a telephone with out Glympse, the glympse exhibits up in that individual’s net browser as an alternative, and just for the allotted time. You don’t even want a Glympse account to share your location.
You get full management over who you share your location with and for a way lengthy, and you may arrange non-public teams the place everybody can see the place everybody else is. One other useful characteristic is the choice so as to add public tags to your glympses: They work a bit like social media hashtags, and you should use them to let the broader world know that you just’re at a music competition or a sports activities occasion.
Glympse is free for Android and iOS.
Life360
Life360 is aimed particularly at households, so you’ll be able to preserve tabs on the place your children are and ensure they’re protected. You may get alerts once they flip up at dwelling or faculty, see the place they’re on a map, and even get alerts if they might have been concerned in a crash on the street. With Tile tracker help, you’ll be able to monitor your possessions within the app too.
The map view is the middle of the Life360 app. It enables you to check out the place members of the family are in actual time, and for peace of thoughts there’s an SOS characteristic that lets anybody discreetly and quietly ship an alert to their household. In case your children desire a bit extra privateness, they will share their basic location relatively than a exact spot on the map.
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You and your loved ones can use Life360 freed from cost, however you’ll get entry to extra options in the event you join one of many premium accounts, which begin at $15 a month. Paying for the service means 30 days relatively than two days of location historical past, alerts for a vast variety of places as an alternative of simply two, and a street crash detection characteristic.
Life360 is free for Android and iOS, with a premium model beginning at $15.
Messaging apps
Past standalone apps devoted to location sharing, you’ll additionally discover the characteristic constructed into a number of messaging and social media apps. If you wish to quickly share your location with a particular group of individuals—like once you’re on a household trip—you may discover that these apps are a greater match for you.
Find out how to share your location on WhatsApp
In WhatsApp, faucet the paperclip icon on the backside of any one-to-one dialog or group chat, then select Location. You possibly can select between sending a single message displaying the place you presently are, or broadcasting your stay location in actual time for quarter-hour, an hour, or eight hours (with the choice to cancel the sharing at any time).
It’s excellent for fast and simple location sharing that you just don’t need to go on indefinitely, particularly as you in all probability have already got the mandatory group conversations arrange contained in the app on your buddies, household, colleagues, and particular occasions. Don’t fear: Your location will keep non-public inside these group chats, or inside the one-to-one dialog you’ve chosen.
WhatsApp is free for Android and iOS.
Find out how to use Snapchat’s location settings
Snapchat has a characteristic known as Snap Map, which you should use to let your folks know the place you might be. Nobody who isn’t your good friend will be capable of see your location, and you may restrict it to sure buddies if needed. The Snap Map may even present you public snaps posted to the Snapchat community—normally displaying off a selected place or occasion to the world at giant.
Faucet the map pin (backside left) on Snapchat’s digital camera display to seek out the map and see the place your folks are. Contact the cog icon (prime proper), and you may select which buddies can see the place you might be, or activate ghost mode to quickly cover your location. Your location solely updates when Snapchat is open, and is faraway from the map after 24 hours.
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On this similar display, there’s additionally a Share stay possibility: This grants particular buddies the privilege of seeing the place you might be in actual time, and you may allow it for one hour, eight hours, or till you flip it off. It’s a helpful further layer of location sharing you’ll be able to allow for the individuals you belief essentially the most, like your accomplice or your children.
Snapchat is free or $4 a month for Android and iOS.
Share your location in Sign
The first purpose to get your self and your folks on Sign is the safety and privateness it affords: There’s end-to-end encryption, the choice to make use of disappearing messages, and (maybe most significantly) it’s run by a developer that isn’t focused on promoting to you or attempting to maintain you locked inside its personal ecosystem.
Whereas it’s not price switching to Sign for its location-sharing options alone, it does have them, so that you received’t miss out on with the ability to let different individuals know the place you might be at particular instances. Like every thing else in Sign, location sharing is dealt with merely and securely, and could be achieved inside one-to-one conversations or inside group chats.
On the backside of the related dialog, faucet the plus button within the backside proper nook, then select Location from the menu that pops up. You’ll then be capable of affirm the place you might be earlier than sharing your location—it’s shared in a one-off message with the individuals inside the chosen chat, so your location received’t be up to date in actual time.
