Tracking people on WhatsApp… sounds a bit creepy, right? But it’s really not: the Live Location feature works only if the person you want to track gives their permission for you to see where they are.
If you’re trying to keep tabs on a group of friends all en route for a meet-up, or you’re meeting someone in an unfamiliar place, it could come in rather handy.
However, WhatsApp Live Location may not be the best tool for tracking your teenager who has been expressly told not to hang around the town centre. Location tracking is temporary, up to a maximum of eight hours.
If you want to know where your kids are without having to repeatedly ask them to share their location, try a different app such as Life360, which is free to use.
How to use WhatsApp Live Location
Tap the + icon
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Open WhatsApp, and go to the chat with the contact with whom you wish to share your location. Or, if there is no existing chat with them, tap the New Chat button. This also works within groups.
Tap the + icon next to the ‘Type a message’ field and choose Location from the list that pops up.
Pick your location
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
You’ll probably choose to send your current location, because this will update if you move around (which is why it’s called Live Location). However, WhatsApp also gives other options of nearby places where you may not currently be, but want to meet at that place instead.
Share Live Location
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
If you do choose Live Location, you’ll need to read the message and tap OK.
Allow background access
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
If you’ve never shared your location on WhatsApp before, you will be prompted to allow WhatsApp access to your location data. There may be a second prompt to access that data while WhatsApp is running in the background. Click Continue or Allow to any prompts that pop up or, on an iPhone – as shown here – tap Settings and toggle the location switch on, then return to WhatsApp.
Choose how long to share your location
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Select how long you wish to share your location with that person – 15 minutes, 1 hour or 8 hours. You can add a comment if you like, then tap the blue send button.
View Live Location
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Your contact will now receive a message with a map that shows your current location, which will continually update during the time period you specified earlier. At any time you can stop sharing your location by tapping ‘Stop sharing’ in the chat thread.
Related stories
Author: Marie Black, Editorial Director
Marie is Editorial Director at Foundry. A Journalism graduate from the London College of Printing, she's worked in tech media for more than 17 years, managing our EMEA and LatAm editorial teams and leading on content strategy through Foundry's transition from print, to digital, to online - and beyond.