In practice – Know the position of a person in real time with your smartphone

Fans of a bike ride or a hike in the countryside know it well: it is always wise to tell one of your relatives your route so that you can be quickly found in the event of a problem. At the start of the school year, many parents may also worry about their offspring who are constantly asked to call or text when they have arrived safely. A recommendation often quickly forgotten, to the chagrin of parents whose anxiety only increases.

Real-time location sharing

Google Maps

To reassure worried spouses and parents, you can use real-time location sharing. This feature is present on Apple’s Maps app and on Android with Google Maps. To activate tracking (you have to call a spade a spade!) in Google Maps, just click on the photo of your avatar, at the top left, then choose from the menu Location sharing. On the next screen, tap Share my location.

The next screen allows you to choose the recipient of the information or the means of communication (SMS, Chat, Discord, etc.). You also have the option to set the tracking time or choose the option until disabled. Once the sharing is activated, a banner on the application informs you of the people who can know your position. A simple press on this banner allows you to request the position of the person in return, but also to stop the “tracking”. Convenient: you can create a shortcut on the home screen if you need to use this feature regularly. Note that it is possible to share your position with a person who does not have Google Maps, the map then being displayed in an Internet page.

Google Maps

Google Maps is an online service and a free mobile GPS navigation application that allows you to create routes (car, bike, public transport), save maps, find points of interest, etc.

• Downloads:
  639
• Release date :
  08/17/2022
• Author :
  Google LLC
• Licence :
  Free License
• Categories:
  

  Leisure – Travel

• Operating system :
  

  Android, Online service All Internet browsers, iOS iPhone / iPad / Apple Watch
  

Apple Maps

Apple’s navigation application (available only on Apple products) also allows you to send your GPS coordinates in real time to an acquaintance. To do this, briefly press the blue dot that symbolizes your position on the screen (you can press the arrow icon at the top right of the application to refocus). A menu then appears at the bottom of the screen. All you have to do is click on To share.

The list of your contacts and means of transmission then appears. Choose what suits you and send the message. Your correspondent will then receive a link to a map hosted on the Internet. So your contact doesn’t need to have Apple Maps to follow you.

Citymapper

There is an alternative to Google Maps and Apple Plans: Citymapper. Unlike the other two applications, which map the entire territory, Citymapper focuses on a few large cities (Paris, Lyon, Lille, Nantes, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Toulouse, etc.) and is therefore intended for city dwellers. The application stands out by offering access to certain services such as timetables (quite precise in Paris) for public transport or the possibility of reserving a taxi, but also a scooter or a bicycle. To share your position with another person, simply, after determining your route, click on the share icon that appears at the top right of the application. From the menu that appears, select Share arrival timeCitymapper will then offer you to send the information via messengers such as Twitter, SMS or WhatsApp.