Do you need to share your real-time location with someone? iPhone users have the Find My app, which allows them to share their location with their contacts. However, if you have an Android device, or want to share your location with someone who does, Google Maps allows you to share your real-time location on a temporary or continuous basis. Here's how to set it up.
Before you can start sharing location data, you must first enable the feature in the Google Maps app. Tap your profile icon in the top-right corner and tap Location Sharing. A screen will tell you how the feature will work; tap Share location to open a panel with options for sharing your real-time location with others.
The default option is to share your location for a limited amount of time. So if you're planning to meet up with someone and don't want them to have 24-7 access to your location, you can set a limit for how long your location will be shareable. Use the plus (+) and minus (-) buttons to make your location shareable for as short as 15 minutes or as long as 24 hours.
You can then select a specific contact from a list of favorites, or scroll to the end and tap More to search through your contacts. Or send a link through any number of apps you use to message people. This option will create a shareable link that will grant temporary access to your location. When it expires, your contact loses access to your location.
To continuously share your location with close friends and family, select Location Sharing and choose Until you turn this off to share your whereabouts until you decide to turn it off. You will be able to select a specific contact to share your location with, but there is no option for generating a shareable link with this option.
Once you are sharing your location with at least one contact, tap Location sharing to see a list of contacts. You can then add more people by tapping the New share button. Or select a contact's icon on the map, then tap the plus (+) button in the top-right corner.
To share your estimated time of arrival for a single trip, tap Directions, set a destination in Google Maps, and tap Start. Swipe up and tap Share trip progress. Select the contact and choose Share to give them an estimate on how far away you are from your destination. Location sharing will stop once you arrive or you stop the navigation. You can also turn it off manually under More > Stop sharing.
Turn Off Location Sharing Manually
To manually turn off location sharing, select a person's location on the map or open the Location sharing option again and select their entry at the bottom of the screen. Tap the Stop button to immediately stop sharing your location, or tap where it says "Can see your location" to change how long they can see where you are.
Any active link share will also be visible from the Location sharing menu. Tap the Sharing via link entry and choose Stop to turn it off immediately.
When you tell Google to stop sharing your location in this manner, the contact will remain visible in your list under Location sharing. To remove the contact entirely, select them, tap the three-dot icon, and choose Remove from list.
This can also be done through your Google account(Opens in a new window); click People & sharing, then find the Location sharing section and click Manage location sharing. You will see anyone who has access to your location. Click the X to remove them from the list and revoke their access.
Like What You're Reading?
Sign up for Tips & Tricks newsletter for expert advice to get the most out of your technology.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.