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Google Maps Introduces New Location Sharing Feature With Real-Time Friend Tracking

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Google today announced an update coming to the iOS, Android, and desktop versions of Google Maps will introduce a way for users to share their real-time locations with friends and family. Google's update differs from the location sharing in Apple Maps, Messages, and Find My Friends, which all lack the ability to follow friends around on a map in real-time.

In Google Maps on iOS, users will be able to tap into the app's side menu, choose "Share Location," and pick from a selection of approved contacts who will see their current location. Contacts are pulled from existing Google accounts, and users can also send links through Messages to friends who aren't on their contacts list when they need to share their location.

google-sharing-32.jpg

After a user's location is shared, their chosen contacts will see where they are within Google Maps, represented as a small face icon that moves in real-time according to where the sharer is located. A small icon above the compass in the app will remind users that their location is being shared for the period of time they requested, but they can also choose to end sharing early.

Google today posted a video to detail a real scenario where its location sharing feature could come in handy, focusing on the creation of a surprise birthday party. The video also shows off how users can share their car trips with friends, so they can see an ETA on when the sharer should be arriving.


Google said that location sharing will be rolling out worldwide sometime soon. Google Maps can be downloaded for free from the iOS App Store. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Google Maps Introduces New Location Sharing Feature With Real-Time Friend Tracking
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/03/22/google-maps-location-sharing/
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This looks really great. Sometimes I stalk my wife and this seems like a big improvment over the forgotten Find My Friends.

At least we can count on other companies to update things.
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MobileMikeV said:
The article is incorrect - Find My Friends is not a one-time location share. You can temporarily or permanently share your realtime location with others.
Click to expand...
But Find My Friends doesn't follow a person in real time. You have to keep hitting the refresh icon every minute or so. I'm aware I sound like a crazy stalker.
 
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MobileMikeV said:
The article is incorrect - Find My Friends is not a one-time location share. You can temporarily or permanently share your realtime location with others.
Click to expand...
Agree. Have used in real time for years.
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Shredliotti said:
Do they not peer review their articles...
The share my location feature on iOS has been around for a while.
Click to expand...
Moreover, aren't they an Apple centered publication? This is not an obscure feature they're talking about here.
 
naeS1Sean said:
This looks really great. Sometimes I stalk my wife and this seems like a big improvment over the forgotten Find My Friends.

At least we can count on other companies to update things.
[doublepost=1490195397][/doublepost]
But Find My Friends doesn't follow a person in real time. You have to keep hitting the refresh icon every minute or so. I'm aware I sound like a crazy stalker.
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No you don't. It will update on its own periodically. Its just if you want more frequent updates, you have to hit refresh (yes, I'm aware that it does not track in absolute real time, but I consider 30 second location refreshes to be as close to real time as you'd want on a mobile device with limited battery capacity and bandwidth).
 
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As long it's easy to opt out of, I don't care. I have zero desire to provide real time intel of where I am. And I couldn't imagine wanting this from a friend or family member except for the rare occasions we are trying to meet at an unknown place or potentially for my teenage daughter when she's driving home from college.
 
MobileMikeV said:
The article is incorrect - Find My Friends is not a one-time location share. You can temporarily or permanently share your realtime location with others.
Click to expand...
I updated the article to try and more closely explain, but it is tricky. Find My Friends updates with friends' locations when the app is opened, or when you tap the refresh button, but you can't sit there and watch their progress physically move around on a map. That's what Google Maps is offering. FMF is pretty much close enough to be considered in real time if you sit there and tap the button, so it gets hard to distinguish.
 
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I've wanted this feature for a long time!

Some of my friends are on Android and most of them don't use or even feel comfortable with Find My Friends, and half of them can never remember how to share their location in messages.

But EVERYONE has and uses Google Maps, and sharing my drive home to my wife so she gets an ETA especially when traffic is bad will be very nice.
 
Didn't Google have something like this a few years ago? I don't remember what the app was called, but do remember being able to see my friends on a map with their approximate location. This looks more accurate, but it's similar.
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zosobao5150 said:
Wouldn't this be a big battery hog?
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Sure it is, but probably no more than Google Maps navigation, and you wouldn't have this on all the time.
 
naeS1Sean said:
This looks really great. Sometimes I stalk my wife and this seems like a big improvment over the forgotten Find My Friends.

At least we can count on other companies to update things.
[doublepost=1490195397][/doublepost]
But Find My Friends doesn't follow a person in real time. You have to keep hitting the refresh icon every minute or so. I'm aware I sound like a crazy stalker.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure why you would want the automated fresh unless you are a stalker.
 
Gasu E. said:
I'm not sure why you would want the automated fresh unless you are a stalker.
Click to expand...

Here's an example.. I'm going to pick up my girlfriend at her place, so I send her my realtime location. She keeps track of me on the map and when I turn the last corner towards her house, she can walk outside and I don't have to go ring the bell, honk the horn or any of that other nonsense.

There's a lot of uses for this. :)
 
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I wonder if this will work in the background on their iOS app. One of the cool things about FMF is that it's always ready to transmit location data, even if the app hasn't been explicitly started by the user or if it's running in the background.
 
zorinlynx said:
Didn't Google have something like this a few years ago? I don't remember what the app was called, but do remember being able to see my friends on a map with their approximate location. This looks more accurate, but it's similar.
Click to expand...

It was called Google Latitude.
 
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Pretty hot!
I'd love to see some feature creep here; a real-time FMF integrated into Apple Maps would be sweet!
 
My wife and I use Find my Phone (Family Sharing) which I believe updates on it's own. Maybe the same as Find my Friend. Just not sure how frequent. But you can hit refresh. We find this helpful when you have plans but not sure the status of the other person. And of course it is helpful if you leave your phone somewhere. Having to text or call the person to get the status can be a hassle for both parties.
 
d21mike said:
My wife and I use Find my Phone (Family Sharing) which I believe updates on it's own. Maybe the same as Find my Friend. Just not sure how frequent. But you can hit refresh. We find this helpful when you have plans but not sure the status of the other person. And of course it is helpful if you leave your phone somewhere. Having to text or call the person to get the status can be a hassle for both parties.
Click to expand...
These features are great but not cross-platform. That's the problem.

Now that Google has this feature I may actually be able to use it more since most of my friends are on Android.
 
waze has had this for years. i use it all the time -- when i leave work i "share my drive" with my wife so she'll know 1) i've left and 2) about what time i'll be home
 
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zosobao5150 said:
Wouldn't this be a big battery hog?
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Yes, and the reason why Find My Friends app updates locations only sporadically.

Ideally, the app should poll location only once every few minutes but provide continuous real-time location if the app is running as a foreground active app.

I would like Find My Friends be fully integrated to Apple Maps in iOS 11.
 
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nutmac said:
Ideally, the app should poll location only once every few minutes but provide continuous real-time location if the app is running as a foreground active app.
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Ideally it could poll constantly when the other user has google maps open and it's polling their location anyway. GPS is usually the battery killer over uploading the data.

And/or users should have control over how often others can poll their location and the circumstances under which frequency might be allowed to increase or be forced to decrease (app open/suspended/shut, low battery, LPM, etc.)
 
So three and a half years later after being killed off, Google Lattitude returns.

Thanks Google, just as I now finally don't need it anymore.
 
zosobao5150 said:
Wouldn't this be a big battery hog?
Click to expand...

As big of a battery hog as anything else that constantly refreshes. Including FMF if you keep hitting refresh.
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ericg301 said:
waze has had this for years. i use it all the time -- when i leave work i "share my drive" with my wife so she'll know 1) i've left and 2) about what time i'll be home
Click to expand...

That's probably where they got the idea. Waze is owned by Google
 
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