11 Ways to Share Location on iPhone (2022)
Share Location Using Find My
With Find My, it’s dead simple to share your location with friends and family members.
Open ‘Find My’ on your iPhone. In the ‘People’ tab, tap on the plus icon, and then tap on ‘Share My Location’.
Add a contact either from the list of people that pops down, or simply search for a contact and add them. Then, tap on ‘Send’. You can choose to share your location for one hour, until the end of day, or indefinitely (which means you will permanently share your location until you manually stop sharing it).
That’s it, you have now started sharing your location with the selected contact using Find My.
Note:
Now, your family members can see your location in the Find My app. If they have Apple Watch running watchOS 6 or later, they can view your location in the Find People app. With the location sharing turned on, if your device is lost or stolen, you can take the help of a family member to locate the device using Find My app.By default, the device where you are signed in to Family Sharing is the one that shares your location. However, you have the option to share your location from a different device. To get it done, head over to Settings app -> your name -> Family Sharing -> Location Sharing -> Share My Location -> From and then choose the preferred device. Bear in mind that location-sharing isn’t supported in some regions like South Korea due to local laws.
Stop Sharing Your Location with People on Find My
If, for some reason, you want to stop sharing your location with people in Find My, simply follow the steps below.
Open ‘Find My’, and in the ‘People’ tab, select the person with whom you want to stop sharing location. Scroll down and tap on ‘Stop Sharing My Location’. In the pop-up, tap on ‘Stop Sharing Location’ to confirm.
That’s it, the contact will no longer be able to see your location. On the other hand, if you’re sharing your location with multiple people and you want to stop sharing it with all of them in one go, you can do that as well.
In ‘Find My’, head over to the ‘Me’ tab. Here, disable the toggle next to ‘Share My Location’ and that’s it.
Share Your Current Location Using Apple Messages App on iPhone
If you use iMessage frequently, you might want to share location in iMessages instead. Here’s how to do that.
Open the Messages app on iPhone and head into a conversation thread. Then, tap the name of the person at the top of the screen.
Now, tap Send My Current Location and you are good to go!
Share Real-Time Location Using Apple Messages App on iPhone
Open the Messages app and go to a chat thread and hit the name of the person at the top.
Now, tap Share My Location and then choose to share your location for one hour, share until the end of the day or share it indefinitely.
This is just the tip of the iceberg as iMessage has got many more handy tricks up its sleeve. To explore more such cool tricks, check out our roundup of the best iMessage tips.
Share Your Location with a Contact on iPhone
iOS also lets you share your location with a contact on your iPhone.
Launch the Contacts app on your iPhone and navigate to the contact you want to share your location with. Now, tap Share My Location and then select how long your location will be visible. Later, if you want to stop sharing the location, go back to the contact and hit Stop Sharing My Location.
Share Your Location on iPhone Using Apple Maps
If you want to share your current location on iOS, Apple Maps can get the job done for you.
Launch Apple Maps on your iOS device. After that, tap the blue dot icon that indicates your location and hit Share in the popup menu. Now, choose the desired app in the share sheet then select the person you want to share your location with.
Share Your Current Location on iPhone Using Google Maps
When it comes to location sharing across platforms including iOS, Google Maps is like a go-to destination. From what I can tell, it offers a pretty intuitive way of sharing location.
Open Google Maps on your device -> Search for a place or find it on the map. Then, touch and hold to drop a pin. At the bottom, tap the place’s name and hit Share. Then, choose the app where you want to share the link to the map.
Even though Apple Maps has shown a lot of improvements, Google Maps still has an edge. If you want to find out what separates the two leading navigation apps, check out our in-depth comparison.
Share Your Real-Time Location on iPhone Using Google Maps
Google Maps also provides neat real-time location sharing.
Open Google Maps on your iPhone. Then, tap the blue dot that represents your location and choose the Share My Location option in the popup menu. Alternately, tap your profile and choose Location Sharing.
After that, choose how long you want to share your location and then tap the name of the person you want to share your location with. Then, hit Share. To stop sharing the location, tap the name of the person with whom you are currently sharing your location and tap Stop.
Share Your Current/Real-Time Location on iPhone Using WhatsApp
For private location sharing, WhatsApp is as good as any app.
Launch WhatsApp on your iOS device and head over to the chat where you wish to share your location. Then, hit the “+” button to the left of the text field and choose Location in the popup menu. Now, you can choose to share your Live Location or Send Your Current Location based on your needs.
Share Your Current/Real-Time Location on iPhone Using Telegram
Telegram also provides a quick way to share the current or real-time locations.
Open Telegram on your iPhone and navigate to the specific chat. Then, tap the menu button to the left of the text field and choose Location in the popup menu. Now, you can either send your current location or choose to share your live location as per your needs.
Share Your Location on iPhone Using Signal
If you’re a Signal user, here’s how to share your location with your contacts on Signal.
Launch the Signal app on your iOS device and go to the specific chat. Then, tap the “X” button to the left of the text field and hit the Location icon in the menu. Now, search for a location using the search bar at the top and hit the Send button.
Share Your Location on iPhone Using Messenger
Facebook Messenger also lets you share live location on iPhone pretty easily.
Launch Messenger app on your iPhone and open the chat thread where you want to share your location. Then, tap the “X” button to the left of the text field. Now, tap the location button in the popup. After that, use the search bar to find a place or address and hit Start Sharing Live Location. At any time, you decide to stop sharing the location, return to the same chat thread, and hit Stop Sharing Location.
How Location Sharing Works on iPhone?
For seamless location sharing, Apple lets you share location with family and friends. So, if you have set up Family Sharing on your iOS device, you can take advantage of the Find My app (which combines Find My iPhone and Find My Friends into a single app in the latest iterations of iOS) to share your location with ease.
Moreover, you can also use iMessage, Apple Maps, and the world’s most loved navigation app “Google Maps” to share your current location or real-time location on your iPhone. Besides, third-party messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, and Facebook Messenger can live up to the task as well.
Before getting started, make sure you have enabled location services on your device. To do so, head into the Settings app -> Privacy -> Location Services and then turn on the toggle. When you initiate location sharing through any app, you are prompted to allow the app to access your location. Then, you can choose to allow the app to have access to your location once or access it while you are using the app.
Easily Share Your Location Using iPhone
That’s it! So, these are the easy and reliable ways to share location with friends and loved ones on iPhone. With several options at your disposal, you can choose the preferred method of location sharing based on your needs. For instance, while communicating with someone through iMessage, you can choose the native location sharing feature. And while using Google Maps during navigation, you can make the most of the built-in real-time location sharing functionality to keep your dear ones updated about your journey. By the way which is your favorite way of location sharing on iOS? Make sure to share your feedback in the comments.
