More than two billion people use WhatsApp to send messages, share photos and generally keep in touch with people.
One handy feature the app – which is owned by Facebook’s parent company Meta – has is the ability to share your exact location with someone, letting them know where you are.
It might be that you’re going for a catch up and your pal needs to know where to meet you, or you might want to use it for safety reasons, perhaps if you’re out somewhere unfamiliar.
Your location is encrypted, too, so only the people you send it to directly can see it.
Not sure how to use this feature? No worries – here’s how.
How to send your location on WhatsApp
Firstly, to send your location on WhatsApp, you’ll need to allow WhatsApp to access that information.
On iPhone, you can do that by going into your device’s Settings, and searching for the green icon denoting the app – which will then show you all the things WhatsApp can access (if you allow).
Up top, you should see ‘Location’ – and you can choose to allow access while using the app, to be asked when you want to share something, or pick ‘always’ or ‘never’.
Once WhatsApp can access your location, it’s pretty straightforward.
Simply open a chat with either an individual or a group, and press the ‘+’ sign in the bottom left corner on your screen. When you see options such as ‘Camera’ and ‘Photo & Video Library’, press ‘Location’.
A map will then appear, with a blue dot showing exactly which street you’re on.
You’ll then have two options to pick from: sending your Live Location or Current Location.
If you press ‘Share Live Location’ (written in blue), you’ll then be taken to scroll menu asking how long you want to share the location for – either 15 minutes, an hour or eight hours.
Once shared, it will appear as a small map in the chat screen for the person you’re messaging to see – with your location shown by a blue dot and your WhatsApp profile picture.
When you move, the dot will move across the map in real time – so the recipient can see if you’re walking to a new destination, or if you’ve changed where you’re waiting for them.
When you want to stop sharing your Live Location, click underneath the map on the text that reads ‘Stop Sharing’.
Current Location, meanwhile, isn’t live – it’s just another way to let a person know where you are at that moment.
Press ‘Send Your Current Location’ and the recipient will see a map with a red pin, showing where you were when you sent it. If you don’t plan on moving, and are waiting in one place, this option works well.
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