Whether you’re giving friends and family an ETA or letting them know your location for safety reasons, Google Maps makes it easy to share your exact location, short-term or continuously.
Want 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, Google Maps allows you to share your real-time location temporarily or continuously. Here’s how to set it up.
Share your location:
Before you 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 let you know how the feature works; Tap Share Location to open a panel with options to share your real-time location with others.
The default option is to share your location for a limited period of time. So, if you’re planning to meet someone and don’t want them to have 24-7 access to your location, you can set a limit on how long your location will be shared. Use the Plus (+) and Minus (-) buttons to make your location shareable for 15 minutes or 24 hours.
You can then select a specific contact from the list of favorites or search your contacts by scrolling to the end and tapping More. Or send a link through the app you use to message people. This option will create a shareable link that provides temporary access to your location. When it expires, your contact loses access to your location.
To continue sharing your location with close friends and family, select Location Sharing, then select Turn it off to share your location until you decide to turn it off. You can select a specific contact to share your location with, but there is no option to create a shareable link with this option.
Once you’ve shared your location with at least one contact, tap Location Sharing to see a list of contacts. You can add more people by tapping the New Share button. Or select a contact’s icon on the map and tap the plus (+) button in the upper right corner.
Please share your ETA
To share your estimated time for a trip, tap Directions, set a destination on Google Maps, and tap Start. Swipe up and tap Share trip progress. Select Contact and select Share to estimate how far you are from your destination. Location sharing stops when you arrive or stop navigating. You can disable it manually under More > Stop Sharing.