WhatsApp Joins Several Messaging Platforms in Offering Live Location Sharing

Today, WhatsApp announced that you will be able to share your location in real time with your friends. The feature, called Live Location, should be available today starting on iOS and Android.

Back in May, Facebook officially rolled out temporary location sharing in Messenger having experimented with the idea in different formats within Messenger and the main Facebook app for years.

To use Live Location, you open a chat with a person or group. Under “Location” in the attach button, tap “Share Live Location.” You can set a timer for how long you want to share your location. All your contacts will then receive a map that shows your live location.

The feature also works if multiple people share locations simultaneously, as people’s icons will then appear on the same map.

WhatsApp promises that, like all of its other messaging functions, location sharing will be end-to-end encrypted. Users can choose to stop sharing their locations whenever, or let the Live Location timer expire.