How to Share Your Live Location with Someone over iMessage on iPhone

For years, Google Maps has positioned itself as a more elite various to Apple’s native Maps app however the Cupertino firm’s latest efforts have made it arduous for the search big to overpower. 

Apple is bringing a slew of modifications with iOS 15 to its Maps app together with an interactive 3D globe, new driving options, AR strolling instructions, new metropolis expertise, and more. In a transfer to remain within the competitors, Google is now rolling out a helpful new function that allows you to share your real-time location when you’re texting with somebody on iMessage. 

How Live Location sharing works with iMessage on iOS?

Google is now updating its Google Maps app on iPhones with the flexibility to share your real-time whereabouts with others you’re having a dialog with on iMessage (or the Messages app). This will turn out to be useful if you’re caught in a scenario the place you’re required to share your reside location for work functions or to let your folks know the way lengthy it’s going to take to get to them or if you need your family members to know your whereabouts when touring in a area that’s new to you.

When you employ this function with Google Maps on iMessage, your reside location can be shared with the opposite individual for an hour by default. If you want to improve the period of location sharing, you possibly can select one between 1 hour and three days. At any level in the course of the shared period, you possibly can finish it throughout the Messages dialog without having to show off your Location providers totally. 

Prior to this, Google Maps has had an current iMessage app that provided customers the flexibility to share their present location that may ship GPS coordinates of the placement they have been at in the course of the time. This would solely be helpful in case you’re at a location you need to make it simple to your associates to succeed in your location. Since this selection solely despatched your present location to the opposite individual, it wouldn’t notably be useful if you need others to know your precise whereabouts in real-time. 

Requirements

In order to make use of the brand new Google Maps function, it’s good to be sure you’re using the most recent model of the Google Maps app from the App Store. For that, you possibly can open the App Store in your device, go to Profile image, and faucet on the ‘Update’ button adjoining to Google Maps underneath the ‘Upcoming automatic updates’ part. Alternatively, you possibly can update the app straight in your iPhone by clicking on this Google Maps on App Store hyperlink. 

Once you’ve up to date the Google Maps app to the most recent model, it’s good to be sure you have given the required location permissions to the app as a way to share your real-time whereabouts with others. For this, open the Settings app and go to Privacy.

On the following display screen, faucet on ‘Location Services’.

Here, flip ON ‘Location Services’.

On this display screen, scroll down and choose ‘Google Maps’ from the listing of apps that want location entry.

To allow location entry to Google Maps and its new widgets, choose the ‘Always’ possibility to verify your reside location is shipped within the background even in case you don’t have the Google Maps app open. 

Since you’re right here to share your location with a trusted individual, you also needs to toggle ON the ‘Precise Location’ change on this display screen in order that Google Maps shares your precise location with the opposite individual. The ‘Precise Location’ possibility will solely be seen in case you’re operating iOS 15 and never on earlier variations of iOS. 

Once you’ve accomplished that, you’re all set to share your reside location with somebody contained in the Messages app. 

How to Share your Live Location in Messages

Now that you’ve enabled Location Services in your iPhone, you possibly can share your location with somebody on the Messages app with ease. For this, open the Messages app in your iPhone and choose the dialog/thread the place you need to share your real-time location on. 

Once the thread opens, faucet on the Google Maps icon on the backside. 

If you don’t see the Google Maps icon beneath the textual content field on the backside, swipe proper on the row of iMessage Apps icons and faucet on the ‘More’ button (the one with a 3-dots icon).

This will open up the listing of iMessage Apps which are out there in your device. You ought to now see the Google Maps app out there underneath the ‘More Apps’ part. To add it to the iMessage Apps row on the backside, faucet on the ‘Edit’ possibility on the high left nook. 

Make positive the ‘Google Maps’ change has been toggled on. Now, faucet on the inexperienced ‘+’ icon on the left facet of the Google Maps app so as to add it to your Favorites.

This will make the Google Maps icon seem inside any Messages thread. 

When you faucet on the Google Maps icon, a small Google Maps widget will open up on the backside displaying your present location. 

To share your reside location, faucet on the ‘Share your real-time location for 1 hour’. 

When you try this, your reside location will seem inside a brand new iMessage bubble contained in the dialog. You can share your real-time location by tapping the Up arrow icon on the backside proper nook. 

Once you’ve despatched it, the recipient will be capable of see what you’ve shared inside their Messages app however they received’t be capable of entry your reside location immediately. To give them entry to your location, you’ll need to faucet on this Live location bubble contained in the Messages app as is indicated underneath your location preview. 

Tapping on the placement bubble will open the Google Maps app in your iPhone along with your present location seen on the display screen.

This will immediately allow reside sharing of your whereabouts and your reside location will now be accessible to the individual you despatched it to. 

How to Change Duration of Location sharing

By default, it is possible for you to to share your real-time whereabouts for 1 hour. You can change the period by tapping on the message bubble that you simply despatched as your reside location contained in the Messages app. 

This will load up the Google Maps app along with your present whereabouts on the display screen. Here, faucet on the ‘for <time>’ possibility (by default it’ll present up as “for 1 hour”) underneath the ‘People with this link can see your location’ part on the backside. 

Google permits you to select anyplace between 1 hour and three days for sharing your reside location with somebody on iMessage. To improve the period of your location sharing, faucet on the ‘+’ icon contained in the ‘Update share’ display screen that pops up from the underside.

After efficiently deciding on your most popular period, faucet on the ‘Save’ button on the backside. 

The up to date period will now be seen inside Google Maps and likewise contained in the Messages app. 

How to Stop Sharing your Live Location inside iMessage 

When you allow reside location sharing, your whereabouts can be shared with the opposite individual for the period that you simply’ve set. At any time, in case you want to finish sharing your reside location, you possibly can faucet on the ‘Stop’ button contained in the Live Location bubble contained in the iMessage thread. 

Once you’ve ended reside location sharing, you need to see the “You are no longer sharing your location” textual content underneath the message you despatched. When you try this, your reside location can’t be accessible to the opposite individual except you resolve to share it once more inside iMessage. 

Alternatively, you too can cease sharing your location by tapping the Live location bubble contained in the Messages app that can open the Google Maps app. When the Maps app opens, faucet on the ‘Stop’ possibility beneath to finish your sharing session instantly. 

That’s all there’s to learn about sharing your reside location using Google Maps on iMessage.