How To Share Location on iPhone - iMessage, Google Maps and Apple Maps

How To Share Location On iPhone: The Simplest Ways To Do It

If you are lost somewhere, sending somebody your current location is the most viable option. That way the other guy knows your location without you telling them the proper address. Sharing your location with anybody through GPS is very simple on iPhone.

Because of some obvious privacy concerns, your phone doesn't broadcast your location all the time. Instead, you need to choose to send your location to a specific person.

You have a lot of options to do so — you can send your current location to someone via Messages, Contacts, Google Maps, or Apple Maps. And depending upon the app, you can send your current location just once, or share your location for a period of time — which is handy if you're on the go and want someone to be able to find you wherever you are, for example.

What is GPS?

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The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a navigation system using satellites, a receiver and algorithms to synchronize location, velocity and time data for air, sea and land travel.

The satellite system consists of a constellation of 24 satellites in six Earth-centered orbital planes, each with four satellites, orbiting at 13,000 miles (20,000 km) above Earth and traveling at a speed of 8,700 mph (14,000 km/h).

While we only need three satellites to produce a location on earth’s surface, a fourth satellite is often used to validate the information from the other three. The fourth satellite also moves us into the third-dimension and allows us to calculate the altitude of a device.

What are the three elements of GPS?

GPS is made up of three different components, called segments, that work together to provide location information.

The three segments of GPS are:

Space (Satellites) — The satellites circling the Earth, transmitting signals to users on geographical position and time of day.

Ground control — The Control Segment is made up of Earth-based monitor stations, master control stations and ground antenna. Control activities include tracking and operating the satellites in space and monitoring transmissions. There are monitoring stations on almost every continent in the world, including North and South America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia.

User equipment — GPS receivers and transmitters including items like watches, smartphones and telematic devices.

What are the uses of GPS?

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GPS is a powerful and dependable tool for businesses and organizations in many different industries. Surveyors, scientists, pilots, boat captains, first responders, and workers in mining and agriculture, are just some of the people who use GPS on a daily basis for work. They use GPS information for preparing accurate surveys and maps, taking precise time measurements, tracking position or location, and for navigation. GPS works at all times and in almost all weather conditions.

There are five main uses of GPS:

1.Location — Determining a position.

2.Navigation — Getting from one location to another.

3.Tracking — Monitoring object or personal movement.

4.Mapping — Creating maps of the world.

5.Timing — Making it possible to take precise time measurements.

Some specific examples of GPS use cases include:

• Emergency Response: During an emergency or natural disaster, first responders use GPS for mapping, following and predicting weather, and keeping track of emergency personnel. In the EU and Russia, the eCall regulation relies on GLONASS technology (a GPS alternative) and telematics to send data to emergency services in the case of a vehicle crash, reducing response time. Read more about GPS tracking for first responders.
• Entertainment: GPS can be incorporated into games and activities like Pokémon Go and Geocaching.
• Health and fitness: Smartwatches and wearable technology can track fitness activity (such as running distance) and benchmark it against a similar demographic.
• Construction, mining and off-road trucking: From locating equipment, to measuring and improving asset allocation, GPS enables companies to increase return on their assets. Check out our posts on construction vehicle tracking and off-road equipment tracking.
• Transportation: Logistics companies implement telematics systems to improve driver productivity and safety. A truck tracker can be used to support route optimization, fuel efficiency, driver safety and compliance.

Other industries where GPS is used include: agriculture, autonomous vehicles, sales and services, the military, mobile communications, security, and fishing.

How to Turn On Location on iPhone?

The first and foremost step to send anybody your location is to turn on the location settings. You can turn it off to save the battery sometimes. But when you have to send your current location, keep in mind to turn it on. Here’s how you can do that.

• Open Settings on your iPhone.
• Among the list of options given, tap on Privacy>Location Services.

Photo: Thetealmango

• Toggle on the location services to enable it.

Share Location on iMessage

When you share your location with iMessage, you can quickly tell a contact where you are so that you can find each other more easily. To share your location, you'll need to open the contact's information inside the message thread and select Send My Location. Here's everything you need to know to send and share your location over iMessage.

How to Send your Location Via iMessage

1.First, in your iMessage conversation with the person, tap the conversation header.

2.Then tap Info.

3.The Details menu will open, and from here you have two options.

4.To just send your current location, select Send My Current Location.

5.A map will appear in the iMessage conversation with your location.

6.The other option, Share My Location, allows the person in the conversation to see your location in the Messages and Find My apps for a set period of time.

7.Select Share My Location.

8.Now, set the duration for one hour, until the end of the day, or indefinitely.

9.Once shared, your friend or family member can get Apple Maps directions to your exact location.

10.The person who you share your location with will be asked if they want to share their location too. This can make finding each other easier!

Be careful to only share your location with your friends and people you trust. Also, remember if you share your location until the end of the day or indefinitely, your battery life will take a hit.

Share Location on Google Maps

You can share your location on google maps also. This method is very simple to use. So, if you are using Google Maps at that time, you don’t need to switch apps. You can directly share the location from the Google Maps app. Here’s how you can do that.

1. On your iPhone, open Google Maps.

2. In the upper right corner, tap on your profile.

3. When the pop-up option appears, choose “Location Sharing” to send your location to a recipient.

4. Your location may be shared for as long as you choose. The time limit can be increased to 3 days or “Until you turn off”. This feature will share your location with the contact until you turn it off.

Photo: Business Insider

5. Now tap on “Select people”.

6. From the contacts, you can choose whichever person you want to share the location with. You can also tap on the drop-down button to select an email address.

After the contacts have been selected, tap on the “share” button in the upper right corner of the screen.

How to share your location with a contact

You can share your location with someone using the Contacts app.

1. Open the Contacts app.

2. Find the person you want to share your location with and tap on the contact.

3. Tap "Share My Location" and then choose how long you want your location to be visible.

How to share your location using Apple Maps

Apple Maps allows you to share your location as well, though the process is slightly different than it is in Google Maps.

1. Open Apple Maps.

2. Tap the blue dot that indicates your location (if you don't see it on the screen, tap the arrow in the upper right to put your position in the middle of the map).

3. In the pop-up menu, tap "Share My Location."

4. Choose the app you want to use to share your location, and then use that app to choose the person you want to share with.

How to enable location services on an iPhone

Photo: Business Insider

Before you can share your location with anyone, you should make sure location services are turned on.

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Tap "Privacy" and then tap "Location Services."

3. Ensure Location Services is on by swiping the slider to the right.

4. If you also want to share your location continuously with someone for a period of time (rather than just sending a one-time location message) tap "Share My Location" and then ensure it's on by swiping the slider to the right.

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