How to share your location on WhatsApp

If you’re a parent, you may feel the need to keep tabs on your child’s whereabouts. Or if you have a friend who’s new to town and therefore likely to get lost, it’s helpful to know you can always find them again. These are just two examples of why you should share your location on WhatsApp. We’ll look at both sending your current location and real-time location tracking on the WhatsApp mobile app.

Read more: How to use WhatsApp — a step-by-step beginner’s guide

QUICK ANSWER

To share your location on WhatsApp, tap the Location button next to the message box. If your privacy settings allow it, your phone will now show your current location. Otherwise, you will have to manually type in the address. Or you can enable real-time tracking of your movements for a specific time period.

JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS

How to share your location on WhatsApp (Android)

To share your location on WhatsApp’s Android app, first tap the Location icon.

If you have GPS enabled in your privacy settings, you will instantly see your current location on the map. Tap Send your current location to have your location sent to your WhatsApp contact.

Alternatively, you can allow your WhatsApp contact to monitor your whereabouts in real-time for a specific period of time — 15 minutes, one hour, or eight hours. Choose which one you prefer, and the map will instantly update as you move about.

How to share your location on WhatsApp (iPhone)

The iOS method is mostly the same, but to get to the map involves a slightly different route.

To send your current location to a WhatsApp contact on the iPhone, first tap the + icon to the left of the message box.

This will pop up a menu. Select Location.

A map will now appear on your screen. If you have GPS enabled in the privacy settings, it will automatically show your location on the map, as well as a list of possible businesses and other nearby locations to choose from. If your privacy settings don’t allow it, you must manually type in the address. Tap Send Your Current Location to send it to your contact.

The map will now appear as a message in the WhatsApp chat message to your contact.

Tapping on the map will open up your contact’s default Map app on their phone, where they can zoom in and out to get better information on your location.

The other possibility is to allow someone to track you in real-time for a specified period. They can give you step-by-step directions over the phone or WhatsApp, as they see you move on the map.

To do this, repeat the same process as above, and when the map appears, select Share Live Location. You will then be asked to choose how long the other person can track you for.

No, this is currently not possible using the method outlined above.

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