Sharing your live location comes in handy when you want your family and friends to stay updated with your estimated time of arrival. Besides, real-time location sharing can also help you keep tabs on the whereabouts of your kid. Thanks to the seamless integration with Apple Maps, you can easily share your live location with someone in iMessage on your iPhone. And in case you aren’t a fan of the stock navigation app for iOS, it’s now possible to share your live location using Google Maps via iMessage on iPhone.
How to Share Live Location with Someone in iMessage on iPhone (2021)
To make location sharing a convenient affair, Google has added a cool live location sharing widget for its popular navigation app in iMessage. So, the next time you want to update your friends about your ETA, bring up the Google Maps widget within iMessage
Pre-Requisites for Sharing Live Location on Your iPhone
- First, ensure that you have enabled “Share My Location” in the Find My setting on your device. To do that, head over to Settings -> Apple ID -> Find My. Now, toggle on the “Share My Location” option.
- Make sure the Messages app has access to your location. Open the Settings app and navigate to Privacy -> Location Services -> Messages. For a seamless live location sharing experience, select the “While Using the App” option under the “Allow Location Access” section. Besides, make sure that the “Precise Location” toggle is turned on.
Share Real-Time Location Using Apple Maps in iMessage on iPhone
- Open the Messages app on your iPhone and select the preferred conversation thread.
- tap on the name of the person at the top.
- Then, tap the “Share My Location” option on the contact details page.
- you have three options to choose from:
- Share for One Hour: Choose it to share your live location for one hour.
- Share Until End of Day: Select it to share your live location with your friend until the end of the day.
- Share Indefinitely: Choose it to share your location with your friend without any limits. The contact will see your real-time location until you turn it back off manually.
- Select the duration you are most comfortable with. In the end, also make sure to tap on “Done” at the top right corner.
Share Live Location Using Google Maps in iMessage on iPhone
Since the real-time location sharing widget is available in the latest version of the Google Maps app, make sure you have updated the navigation app. To do so,
- Open the App Store on your iPhone, tap on your profile picture at the top right. Here, find Google Maps and then tap Update. If no update is available, you will see an “Open” button next to it.
- Ensure that Google Maps has access to your location. Navigate to Settings -> Privacy -> Location Services -> Google Maps. Now, select “Always” to let the app access your location without any restriction. Besides, make sure that Google Maps can access your precise location for a better location-sharing experience.
- Now, open the Messages app and jump into a conversation thread. You should see Google Maps in the app drawer above the keyboard.
Just in case Google Maps is missing from the app drawer, swipe from right to left on the app drawer to access the “More” button. Then, tap on the “Edit” button at the top left corner on the next page and toggle on the switch next to Google Maps. Tap on the “Done” button at the top left to finish.
- Next, select Google Maps from the app drawer in iMessage on your iPhone. Then, tap the “Share your real-time location for 1-hour” option. Write a message (optional) and hit the send button.
You are now sharing your live location using Google Maps in the iMessage app. Do note that anyone with this link can view your live location.
Stop Google Maps from sharing your real-time location
You can stop Google Maps from sharing your real-time location at your own will. To do so, open the conversation thread in question in the Messages app on your iOS device. Now, wait for a few seconds until the location sharing widget has refreshed. After that, tap on the “Stop” button.
