How to Share Your Location on Your iPhone or iPad

One of the easiest things to do with your iPhone or iPad is to share your location with family and friends. Maybe you want to show someone a perfect vacation spot. Maybe you are at a party and want a friend to join you. Whatever the reason, we show you how to share your location on an iPhone or iPad using native and third-party tools.

If you want to share your location more permanently, check out our guide to using the iOS Find My app – available on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and through most modern web browsers.

Activate location services

First, let’s make sure that location services are turned on. You might have already skipped this step when setting up your iPhone, or maybe you turned it off to save battery power. Once you enable it, you will be able to see all the installed apps that can access your location.

Step 1: Tap to open the Settings app.

2nd step: Scroll down and press Private life.

Step 3: Tap Rental services.

Step 4: Press the To toggle beside Rental services to activate this feature if you haven’t already.

Use the Messages app

If you have a conversation with a friend, coworker, or family member in Messages, you can share your current location. This can be extremely useful if you are meeting someone in person and need to show them where you are.

Step 1: Tap to open the Messages app.

2nd step: Tap to open a iMessage thread.

Step 3: Tap anywhere next to the contact displayed at the top, and then tap the info icon (I).

Step 4: Select one of the following two options:

• Send my current location – This sends an iMessage with a miniature map dotted with a pin showing your current location.
• Share my location – It does not send an iMessage. Instead, your location is visible in the Find My app. You can choose to share for an hour, until the end of the day, or indefinitely.

Use the Contacts app

If you haven’t already started a discussion thread with a contact, this is a great way to share your location. Here’s how:

Step 1: Tap to open the Contacts app.

2nd step: Select the contact you want to share your location with.

Step 3: Tap Share my location down.

Step 4: Select one of the three options from the context menu, as shown above.

Use the Maps app

The days of “are you still here?” are finished. Apple Maps allows you to share your location so that others can follow the progress of your trip. Here’s how:

Step 1: Tap to open the Maps app.

2nd step: Tap the blue dot that indicates the location of your device.

Step 3: Tap blue Share my location button in the context menu.

Step 4: Select a method to share your location. These include messages, mail, AirDrop, etc. You may need to press the After button for additional sharing options.

Bonus tip: Already tracking travel routes in Maps? Swipe up at the bottom of the screen and select Share ETA, then choose a contact to share your ETA with during your trip. Once you arrive at your destination, your location will stop broadcasting.

Use google maps

Like Apple Maps, Google Maps allows you to share your location with other people so they can see the progress of your trip. Here’s how:

Step 1: Tap to open Google Maps.

2nd step: Tap the blue dot that indicates the location of your device.

Step 3: Tap Share your location listed in the context menu.

Step 4: Tap a contact associated with Google in the pop-up menu (Google Maps, Gmail, etc.), or tap More options to select a contact or app via the typical iOS context menu.

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