Apple makes it easy to share your location with friends and family via the Find My network. You can also share your location with Android users through third-party services such as Google Maps or WhatsApp.. That's how.
Make sure you're comfortable sharing your location
Sharing your location from a smart device is something you should only do if you absolutely trust the person you are sharing with. Sharing your location using the methods described in this post will allow someone to track you in near real time.
This is a very effective method of keeping track of someone and far superior to using a passive Bluetooth tracker like Apple AirTags.. It is useful for finding people in a crowded place, like in a music festival, to follow someone's trips abroad or just to check how far someone is when they are late to catch up.
Note that when doing this, will share your need location. Whichever device you are sharing from will try to locate it to the best of its ability, what it means inside 1 foot or 30 cm under ideal GPS conditions.
When someone searches for your location using Apple's Find My network, Apple asks any device that you have selected to share to provide a GPS position. This is subsequently relayed to Apple and shared with whoever has permission to do so.. This procedure can be repeated approximately every 30 seconds.
How to share your location with other Apple users
Location sharing works best on an iPhone with other Apple users. The technology that powers the feature is built into iOS, iPhone operating system. The system treats it as a central service, so it should rarely fail. You have permission to always run in the background if you choose to use it.
Compare this to a third party service like Google Maps, which is not treated as a main service, but as an application like any other. Even with background app update enabled, third-party services sometimes don't work because the app has stopped responding or doesn't have the proper permissions.
When you share your location from an Apple device, you do it with someone else's Apple ID. Anyone you've shared with can see your location using the built-in iOS Find My app or the Messages app (tap a contact's name at the top of a conversation, followed by “Information” to view it on a map).
Whichever device you use to set up location sharing is the device that will be used to query your location. Because, if you set up location sharing on your iPad, where your iPad is will be reported as its location. For this reason, it is better to use your iPhone or an Apple Watch (if you have one).
Share location from an iPhone
There are two alternatives to start sharing your location with someone: via the Messages app or the Find My app.
To share via Messages, start (open it) a conversation with the person or group with whom you would like to share, and then touch the name of the contact (the group) at the top of the screen, followed by the button “Information”.
Now, Touch “Share my location” and choose a time period that suits your needs. You can choose to share for an hour, one day or indefinitely.
You can also share your location using the Find My app, that is built into your iPhone (if you can't find it, try updating your iPhone software). First, launch the app and make sure you are on the tab “Persons”.
Touch “Share my location” and then enter the name, phone number or email address of the person you want to share with (the other party will need an Apple ID for this to work properly).
To end, press “To send” to share your location.
Share location from an Apple Watch
Sharing your location from an Apple Watch is as simple as doing it from an iPhone using the Find People app. Your Apple Watch will always use your iPhone's location unless it is out of range of your iPhone and you have an Apple Watch that has both GPS and cellular connectivity.
This is done to preserve the battery of your Apple Watch, but it also simplifies the whole procedure. The only time your Apple Watch will be used to locate you is if your iPhone detects that it is out of range. If you have a GPS only model, your iPhone is the only location to be reported, even if it's out of reach.
To share your location from your Apple Watch, launch the Find People app and tap “Share my location” at the bottom of the list.
Tap the microphone icon (to dictate), the contact icon (to choose from existing contacts) or keyboard (to enter a phone number) and specify who you want to share with.
Once you have selected a contact, choose how long you want to share your location.
Your location will now be shared for as long as you have specified.
Share your location with Apple Family Sharing
Family Sharing is Apple's inclusive family plan that enables you to share iCloud storage and subscriptions to services like Music and TV +. Family Sharing must be configured by the family organizer for this to work.
Once other family members have joined, they can turn on location sharing by launching Settings, tapping your name at the top of the list and then tapping “Search my” and enabling the option “Share my location”.
From here, tap on the family members listed at the bottom to choose whether or not to share your location with them. To stop sharing, revisit this menu and deactivate “Share my location” or tap on each family member and make changes.
Opting out of Family Sharing will also prevent your location from being shared.
How to see or change who you are sharing with
It is a good idea to check who you are sharing with from time to time. It's really easy to share your location with someone with a few taps, And it's even possible for someone else to covertly configure it on your device if you leave it unattended and unlocked for a short period.
To see who you share your location with, launch the Settings app on your iPhone and tap your name at the top of the list. and then put your device into pairing mode “Search my” to view your current sharing options, including a list of the people you are sharing with at the bottom of the screen.
Tap a person and then scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap “Stop sharing my location” to deactivate the function. If you want to share your location again, you will need to share it again following the instructions detailed previously.
How to share your location with Android users
Sharing your location using Apple services is not always ideal, especially if your friends use Android or Windows. For this case, you will have to use a third-party service such as Google Maps or WhatsApp Messenger.
Although these are by no means the only two options, they are two of the most popular. In the case of WhatsApp, you can share your location with a full group chat if you need it.
Share location through Google Maps
To share your location through Google Maps, must download Google Maps para iPhone and then sign up or log into a Google account first.
Launch Google Maps on your iPhone and tap on your user icon in the upper right corner.
In the menu that appears, touches “Share location”, followed by “Share location”.
Decide how long you intend to share your location or select “Until you turn this off” to share it indefinitely. Next, you can choose a contact from your Google contacts or tap “More options” to share a link to Messages or another app of your choice.
To end, verify that Google Maps has the required permission levels to accurately convey your location. Head to Settings and scroll down to find Google Maps.
You must enable the precise location and change “Allow access to location” a “Always” so Google Maps can search for your location even when you don't have the app open. You need to make sure the background app update and mobile data is turned on (are enabled by default).
Share location through WhatsApp
You can also share your location through WhatsApp from 15 minutes to 8 hours. Unfortunately, it is not feasible to share your location indefinitely with your WhatsApp contacts.
Launch WhatsApp, sign in and select or start a conversation with the person or group with whom you would like to share your location. Tap the plus icon “+” near the message bar and select “Location”, followed by “Share live location”.
If you haven't already, WhatsApp will tell you that you should allow the application to access your location even when you are not using it. You can complete this step in Settings> WhatsApp changing “Location” a “Always” and making sure the Precise Location is enabled.
You must also enable “Background app update” and “Mobile data” if they are not already enabled.
Go back to WhatsApp and choose how long you would like to share your location. Add a title and hit the submit button to share. Your contact or group will now be able to search for your location throughout the specified time.
Shared location must be reciprocal
Location sharing works best as a reciprocal function. If someone insists that you share your location with them, insist that they do the same if it makes sense to do so.
When you share your location, share more than just your immediate whereabouts. You are also potentially sharing your home and workplace addresses, the locations of your friends or associates and their daily habits. Make sure you can trust the person you are sharing with and remember that you can choose not to participate at any time.
Don't you use an iPhone? Learn how to quickly share your location from an Android device.
RELATED: How to Quickly Share Your Location in a Text Message on Android
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