WhatsApp has announced a new feature that allows you to share your location in real-time with others. Location Sharing is not a new feature in mobile apps. It already exists on other mobile applications like Google Maps, Facebook Messenger, and Snapchat. It is a great way to let people know where you are, for example if you have travelled to a country or city that you are not familiar with. Here is how WhatsApp Location sharing works.
WhatsApp calls it Live Location. We just call it WhatsApp Location Sharing.
How WhatsApp Location Sharing (Live Location) Works
- Open a chat with the person you want to share with
- Under “Location” in the attach button, there’s a new option to “Share Live Location.”
- Choose for how long you want to share and tap send
That is it. Your recipient will be able to see your real-time location on a map. Think of it working the same way your Uber driver is able to locate you (and vice-versa).
WhatsApp Location Sharing works for groups too, so you can share your location with a group you are chatting with and every one in that group will see your location same way. If multiple people in the group share their locations, all those locations will be visible on the same map. Nice.
Again, this is a great tool for travellers and adventurers who need to meet up. It also sounds like something that will come in handy for security purposes and in emergencies.
WhatsApp Live Location has end-to-end encrypted feature lets you control who you share with and for how long. You can choose to stop sharing at any time or let the Live Location timer simply expire. Live Location is available for Android smartphones and iPhones.
How Will You Get WhatsApp Live Location?
The feature will be rolling out to WhatsApp users in the next few weeks via an update to the WhatsApp mobile app. Update: WhatsApp Location Sharing has since been active and is widely used on both Android devices and Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices.