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How to share your location on Android
Your loved ones won't have to worry about where you are anymore
Have you ever felt like your friends are lost in the sauce trying to find that new, hidden gem of a restaurant? Maps are great, but sometimes they don't cut it, especially if you're parked far away or nothing's familiar. That's where sharing your real-time location comes in handy. It guides your friends to you like a digital compass.
How to share your location on Facebook Messenger
Here's how to use Facebook Messenger to send your location
Facebook isn't only for sending memes, looking at your friends' babies, and trying to avoid (or not avoid) arguments. It has practical uses that we don't think about very often. One of those is sending your location to people using Facebook Messenger.
Whether using one of the best budget Android phones or tablets or an iOS device, Google Maps is the definitive solution for finding places, sharing your location, and downloading maps for offline viewing. Since its introduction over a decade ago, the app now does more than help you get where you need to go. Google Maps makes tasks from finding your way home to keeping tabs on friends and loved ones easier than ever.
Google, a big fan of safety, expands Assistant Guest Mode to 9 other languages
Plus, more new safety features
Google is using Safer Internet Day, an initiative spearheaded by the European Union, to announce several expansions to safety features it has made available across its various platforms. After all, you might need them one day. Better them being more available than less so.
Google's got a workaround for problems with extended Maps location sharing
The search giant says it's still investigating the bug
Location sharing in Google Maps is helpful for keeping track of family and friends — and if it creeps you out, it's also easy to customize for privacy's sake. Users can set specific time limits or simply keep it active until they choose to turn it off. An update in late 2021, however, apparently affected timing controls for many users. Google recently addressed the bug, confirming that it's under investigation and offering a workaround.
Google is reminding you of whom you can track because that isn't creepy at all
You can also ask Assistant where they are
Location sharing is great for keeping track of those important to you. It's also something that many forget about once it's been set up; it would be easy to share your location with someone on a day out, only to forget about it for months (or even years) to come. To help with this, Google Maps has started to remind us of whose shared locations we have access to.
Telegram 7.2 adds new tricks and treats just in time for Halloween (APK Download)
Improvements to pinned messages, location sharing, and more
Telegram released a big update last month, adding search filters, channel replies, and more. It's almost Halloween now, but that doesn't mean the team is taking a break. In today's release of version 7.2, the popular messenger app is getting improvements to pinned messages, location sharing, seasonally-appropriate animated emoji, and more.
Google kills another app — say goodbye to Trusted Contacts
Google can always be trusted to add to its graveyard
Google introduced the Trusted Contacts app back in 2016 as a way to share location info with people who are close to you. The app gained a few more features over the years, but now it looks like Google has decided to cut off access to Trusted Contacts. If the app is already installed on your device, you'll be able to keep using it — but not for long.
Google Maps is upgrading its AR Live View mode with some impressive ML-powered tricks
Live View will include landmarks and be available while using transit directions and location sharing
Travelers have relied on Google Maps for years to navigate and explore the world around them, and when Live View was introduced last year, it unlocked even more possibilities. Now Google is announcing some upcoming improvements to Live View, including popular landmarks and location sharing.
Google Pixel owners are getting futuristic AR location sharing in Maps
Handy when you try to walk toward each other
Live View in Maps is one of Google's more impressive technologies. It guides you through the real world via an AR overlay on your screen, showing you exactly which way to turn, which is pretty handy when you're in an unfamiliar city and have an unreliable compass. Starting with Pixel phones running Android 11, Google is making this feature even more useful. When a friend is sharing their location with you, you'll be able to navigate to them via Live View.
Plus Codes in Google Maps make it easy to share any location, no address needed
As Google says, it’s like sharing a phone number
Sharing your physical location should be easy, right? But that doesn’t work out when your home doesn’t have a clearly defined address like it’s the case in many Asian countries. Google proposed using short ‘Plus Codes’ to tackle this unaddressed problem about five years back, but the feature didn’t really take off as it all felt a bit cumbersome. To fix that, Google Maps is bringing an easier way to share your current location as a Plus Code and without having to rely on your traditional mailing address.
Google Maps spruces up location sharing interface with modern new look
It works about the same, but it looks nicer
Google Maps has picked up a new location-sharing interface in the last week or so. Precipitated (we think) by an app update, the new interface updates the menu's Material aesthetic to be a bit more modern, with a snazzy new floating action button and more detailed information at a glance.
Google Hangouts loses location sharing in latest update
It's not like people need to know where you are
We've known for a long time that Google Hangouts was destined to shut down, but most of us couldn't have predicted individual features would be slowly picked from its not-quite-dead body. That seems to be the case with the location sharing function formerly found in Hangouts. As of v32, the convenient messaging feature has been quietly removed.
Android Q already introduced a new feature that allows users to restrict an app's access to location data so it is only available while the app is in the foreground. Along with this change, a new screen was also added to Settings that gives users far more visibility of current settings and which apps have recently used this access to get your position. A new aspect of these enhancements was introduced during the Google I/O keynote that will give reminders to users when an app is accessing location while sitting in the background.
Google has gone through several versions of location sharing over the years, all the way back to Google Latitude. That feature was inside Maps, but then location sharing moved to Google+. It came back to Maps last year, and an interesting new feature has rolled out. Now, sharing your location also shares your battery level.
A new version of Google Maps landed late last night and brought with it an assortment of visual tweaks. You'll find an all new and improved look for your saved lists, plus some interesting tweaks to other small spots around the interface. There is also a pretty clear hint that we'll be able to send requests for other people to turn on location sharing so they don't have to take the initiative to share with us. There are a couple of smaller teardown topics as well.
A new version of Google Maps began rolling out this week. Unlike most recent releases, this one doesn't seem to be packed to the gills with new features. Even the teardown brings a fairly minimal number of clues for new things. Nevertheless, it looks like Google may be adding battery stats to shared locations and lining up several small-ish improvements to mass transit support.
Some of you might recall the "suh dude" meme that became popular around this time of year... two years ago. It seems like the execs over at Samsung watched a compilation or two of that, ultimately deciding that "Uhssup" would be popular with the urban crowd and trademarking the name in Europe and Asia. You know, before anyone else could take this glorious idea.
A new version of Google Maps hit the beta channel late Friday evening. At the same time, Google announced improvements to the step-by-step navigation features for moving through public transit. That announcement applies to v9.68 and above, but after poking around in 9.69, there are also a couple of new things to check out. You can now see your reviews on locations in your custom lists, and add comments to those places to add hints or recommendations. A teardown also provides some hints about upcoming features like a new option to share a location without having it track your movements.
The Uber app is pretty convenient already, but there's always room for improvement. Earlier in the year, the ability to message your driver via in-app chat was added, and now Uber has a few more enhancements that it hopes will help ease the stress during the festive season.