How to share your location on an iPhone in 4 different ways

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If you’ve ever tried to meet someone at a particular location but you didn’t know the exact address, you’d probably appreciate the ability to tell them exactly where you are without knowing the details.

That’s exactly what your iPhone lets you do — share your location via GPS with anyone with just a tap.

Because of some obvious privacy concerns, your phone doesn’t broadcast your location all the time. Instead, you need to choose to send your location to a specific person.

You have a lot of options to do so — you can send your current location to someone via Messages, Contacts, Google Maps, or Apple Maps. And depending upon the app, you can send your current location just once, or share your location for a period of time — which is handy if you’re on the go and want someone to be able to find you wherever you are, for example.

How to enable location services on an iPhone

Before you can share your location with anyone, you should make sure location services are turned on.

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Tap "Privacy" and then tap "Location Services."

3. Ensure Location Services is on by swiping the slider to the right.

4. If you also want to share your location continuously with someone for a period of time (rather than just sending a one-time location message) tap "Share My Location" and then ensure it’s on by swiping the slider to the right.

location 1Dave Johnson/Business Insider

How to send or share your location using Messages

1. Open a conversation with the person whom you want to send your location to.

2. Tap the top of the screen, which includes the icon for the person you are chatting with.

3. Tap the info icon ("i" in a circle) and choose the kind of location sharing you want to do:

  • If you want to send your current location, tap "Send My Current Location."
  • If you want to share your location for a period of time, tap "Share My Location," and then choose how long you want your location to be visible — an hour, for the rest of the day, or forever.

location 2Dave Johnson/Business Insider

4. Tap "Done."

How to share your location with a contact

You can share your location with someone using the Contacts app.

1. Open the Contacts app.

2. Find the person you want to share your location with and tap on the contact.

3. Tap "Share My Location" and then choose how long you want your location to be visible.

How to share your location using Google Maps

If you happen to have a Google Maps open, you can share your location directly from there.

1. Open Google Maps.

2. Tap the blue dot that indicates your location (if you don’t see it on the screen, tap the arrow in the lower right to put your position in the middle of the map).

3. In the pop-up menu, tap "Share your location."

location 3Dave Johnson/Business Insider

4. Choose how long you want to share your location. You can increase the time to as long as three days, or you can tap "Until you turn this off."

5. Tap "Select People."

6. Tap each person in your contact list whom you want to include. You can tap the downward pointing arrow to choose an email address or phone number to contact them with.

7. When you’re done making selections, tap "Share" in the upper right corner.

How to share your location using Apple Maps

Apple Maps allows you to share your location as well, though the process is slightly different than it is in Google Maps.

1. Open Apple Maps.

2. Tap the blue dot that indicates your location (if you don’t see it on the screen, tap the arrow in the upper right to put your position in the middle of the map).

3. In the pop-up menu, tap "Share My Location."

4. Choose the app you want to use to share your location, and then use that app to choose the person you want to share with.

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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Dave Johnson)

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