Where Do You Go? Private Location Sharing Using Google Maps and Android Apps for Managing Privacy and Social Responsibility (Extended Abstract)
Other apps on your phone may have some kind of location-sharing feature built into them as well. In WhatsApp, for example, you can tap the paper clip icon at the bottom of a conversation, then tap Location to let someone know where you are for a period of up to eight hours.
While you might only trust the people in your life to do this, they may find you more reliant on it than you thought. A built-in controls for managing what you are actually sharing and when is included in these tools.
You can find out where everyone is by tapping your profile picture and location at any time. To turn off location sharing with this person and to add a location-based notification, use the tap on a contact’s name.
To stop sharing your location with your friends, open the Me tab, and turn off the Share. My location switch is on. To stop sharing it with a specific individual, tap on their name and choose Stop Sharing My location.
One of the best ways to do this is with an app like Google Maps,which is cross-platform and is installed on a lot of phones.
There are a couple of other location sharing apps worth a mention. Private sharing is available for groups of people in your sports club, and can even be used by those in your social circles who don’t have the Glympse app installed.
We know there are many ways modern technology can track us so we don’t need to add more to the mix. But knowing the whereabouts of trusted friends and family can be useful a lot of the time, and it’s something you can do from your Android phone.
I’ve used this many times to figure out where to meet someone or to check when guests are going to arrive so I know exactly how much time I’ve got left to tidy up. It is helpful for parents to know that their children are safe.
Life360: A Family Link App for Monitoring a Family Member’s Smartphone with Google Maps or Life360 (with an Empty App)
Click on a contact under the map to see their precise location. You’ll also get an information card telling you how far away they are from you, when their location was last updated, and the battery level of their phone (which might be the reason they’re ignoring your calls).
Bear in mind that if you’re using the Google Family Link app to monitor the device of a child, location monitoring is an option there, too, on its own dedicated tab. You might find it more convenient to use this app rather than Google Maps for your kids — Google has more information about the feature.
Life360 is good, too, but it’s geared primarily toward families. As well as offering location-sharing features (including location-based alerts) that you and your kids can make use of, the app also offers private messaging and device tracking features. It can even give you a warning if it thinks a family member has been involved in an accident by using phone sensors.
