Ever wanted to send your location or your ETA to someone? Soon you will be able to with Google Maps share function.
In an update that will soon be rolling out worldwide you’ll be able share your location and also your trip itself so that the person you share it with will know when you will be getting to your destination.
The sharing process will be as simple as sharing in any other app. You would just hit “Share Location” and then select who to share it with and how long to share it (obviously you most likely do not want that person to be able see your location all the time, forever). The sharing can be done with Google Contacts or with any messaging app.
Once you have shared your location with that person they will be able to see it in Google Maps on their device. At the same time there is an icon above the compass on your map to remind you that you are sharing your location. This sharing of location can be stopped by you at any time.
Along with location sharing you can also share your trip. While in navigation mode if you tap on the “More” button you can then select “Share trip” to share it with people via messaging or Google Contacts. Those you shared your trip with will be able to see your arrival time and follow your trip. The sharing ends when you reach the destination.
While this may open up a can of worms in the privacy world it could also be very useful — remember you are in control of who you share your information with and how long you share this information. It is possible that it could also be used to keep track of kids although that is not mentioned by Google.
Google+ had ongoing location sharing which worked fine – until today when they shut it down and directed me to this new Maps feature … Which is NOT ACTIVE yet. So like when they took latitude away, I’m back to having a gap with no functionality. WTF? Surely they can time things to overlap instead of gap like this? Amateurs.
So… “Locations” has been brought back from the dead…
Locations still worked fine up until a few days ago. Now it will just flat out refuse to update manually and seems to update automatically on a sync schedule. Sometimes up to an hour between syncs too.
I dare say it’s definitely on its death bed now that maps has this function.
Oops, I meant “Latitude”! Sorry.
I personally think this is all great; very handy for meeting up with friends etc, and a lot of granular control is available.