Our 5 Favorite Location Sharing Apps

Life360 is designed for close-knit groups, while apps like Glympse are better for on-demand sharing with anyone

By
Elise Moreau
Elise Moreau
Elise Moreau
Contributor
  • University of Ontario
  • George Brown College
Elise Moreau is a writer that has covered social media, texting, messaging, and streaming for Lifewire. Her work has appeared on Techvibes, SlashGear, Lifehack and others.
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Updated on September 27, 2024
Reviewed by
Jon Fisher
Jon Fisher headshot
Reviewed by Jon Fisher
  • Wichita Technical Institute
Jonathan Fisher is a CompTIA-certified technologist with more than 10 years of experience writing for publications like TechNorms and Help Desk Geek.
lifewire's editorial guidelines

You can share your location through virtually any of the major social networking apps, but it's much safer to keep something as personal as your location under wraps, reserved only for specific people. That's where location-sharing apps come in.

Below are the best apps for the job. Whether you want a friend to monitor your whereabouts for a first date or you're keeping tabs on your kids' after-school activities, you need an app that works for your specific situation. We've hand-picked these apps based on our own experiences and research.

Ready to share your next destination? Download one of the following apps to get started, and invite your friends and family to join!

01
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Glympse

The Glympse location tracking app on Android
What We Like

  • Useful for both smartphone and non-smartphone users.

  • Good for on-demand sharing with anyone (no account necessary).

  • Easy to use with some advanced options.

  • Add time as needed during the trip.

What We Don't Like

  • Can't share location indefinitely, only up to 12 hours.

  • Blocky, outdated interface.

Glympse is a great location-sharing app that lets someone see exactly where you are in real time, even if they don't have a smartphone. Send a check-in that shows your current location, or share your real-time location for up to 12 hours with anybody. You can text or email your details and the recipient can watch your location as you move and see the path to your destination.

The customization options are really great. For frequent repeat trips to the same place, create favorites so that sharing your location with the same person is just a few taps away. You can also add time to the share if you're running behind, request someone else's location if they also use the app, and automatically quit sharing your location when you arrive.

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02
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Life360

The live location of several people in the Life360 app
What We Like

  • Great for continual, long-term sharing with friends and families.

  • Get location-based alerts.

  • Members can check in at any time and trigger an SOS.

  • Usually very accurate.

  • Create separate groups for different people.

  • Advanced features can be purchased.

What We Don't Like

  • Free users are limited in a few ways.

  • Everyone in the group is forced to see everyone else's location.

Life360 is all about sharing your location with the closest people in your life, like family members and best friends. Start by building a main circle out of your immediate family members, and then create more circles for other people. You can also message people directly through the app.

This app's specialty is location alerts. Set one for your spouse's workplace, or your kid's school or friend's house, and be told immediately by push alerts when they arrive or leave. You can also see someone's location history, battery level, and activity, such as when they're walking or driving (and their speed).

Download For:

03
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Snapchat

Snapchat's location-sharing map and options
What We Like

  • Share with all friends or specific ones.

  • Pause sharing at any time or for a set time (like three hours).

  • Mute someone's location to hide them from the map.

  • More social than similar apps.

What We Don't

  • Must share indefinitely or never; no flexible options.

  • Can be confusing to use if you're not already familiar with the app.

Snapchat's live location feature is an expansion of its Snap Map, where you can view friends' locations on a map. It supports Ghost Mode to hide your location whenever you want to without alerting your friends, and its social features let you react to a location and see which places are popular among your friend group.

This app is similar to Life360 because your location can be broadcast indefinitely, even when you close the app. However, unlike Life360, there aren't location alerts; on the flip side, every person on your map is unique to you (they don't see each other's location) because they aren't all necessarily friends with each other.

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04
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Google Maps

Location sharing in the Google Maps app
What We Like

  • Several expiration options: 15 minutes up to indefinitely.

  • Add time as needed.

  • Set up location-based alerts.

  • View their battery level.

  • Share with existing Google Maps users or anyone via a link.

What We Don't Like

  • Surprisingly slower to update (at times) than other similar apps.

You might already have Google Maps on your phone, making it one of the best ways to share your live location. It's a great combination of some of these other apps because recipients don't need a phone to see your location and you can configure place alerts for monitoring someone else's location.

Another great thing about using Google Maps for location sharing is that it includes all the businesses and other locations you're used to seeing, right there next to your friends. This makes it incredibly easy to see where they are in relation to place markers you're already familiar with.

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05
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Foursquare's Swarm

The Swarm location sharing app on Android
What We Like

  • Fun way to keep friends updated.

  • Encourages use by awarding coins and Mayorships.

  • Your location history can be viewed from a computer, too.

What We Don't Like

  • Sometimes has trouble logging in.

  • It's too easy to fake your location.

Back in 2010, Foursquare was the ultimate location-sharing app. It was fun and trendy for a while, but since then it's seen a lot of changes. The original Foursquare app is still available, but its primary use is for discovering places around you. 

Swarm is a newer app with the social networking component stripped out of the original app. For location-sharing specifically, it's still one of the best apps out there, letting you update friends via check-ins to the places around you. Get coins in the process and if you're on top of it, you'll be crowned the Mayor, you just need to check in to a place more often than your friends.

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