Whether your navigating the Adirondacks or tracking down that hip new bar everyone’s talking about, Google Maps has your back. It’s packed to the brim with useful features like a speed indicator, turn-by-turn navigation, and parking reminder. And starting today, it’s getting location sharing.
Location sharing isn’t novel. Waze boasts location-sharing features, as does Glympse. And Google’s own Latitudes app, which the search giant retired in 2013, let you share your real-time whereabouts with friends. But there’s something to be said for convenience. With close to 95 million users (according to ComScore), Maps is Google’s most-used app after YouTube and the fourth most used app overall. In other words, you likely know a friend who’s used it once or twice.
And sharing your location with that friend is now as simple as a tap. Within Maps, touching the blue “Share location” icon via the app’s side menu will serve up a menu from which you can specify with whom you want to share your location. You can broadcast your whereabouts for a set period of time (between 15 minutes and 3 days) or indefinitely. And if you opt for the latter, you’ll receive an email every two or three weeks to remind you that it’s on.
You’re not restricted to people in your Google contacts list. You beam a link to your location via email or text, but links are restricted to time-based sharing — they expire once a specified amount of time has elapsed.
Once you’ve shared your location with a privileged circle, you’ll be able to see which folks you’ve granted access to in the app’s Location Sharing screen. When someone shares their location with you, you’ll have the option of reciprocating by sharing your own location, or pulling up directions to the person’s address.
There’s more. You can hide friends on the map who’ve shared their location, and “unhide” them when you choose. Obsessive types (and parents) can pin a person’s location to their home screen for speedier access. And if you’re navigating to a spot using Maps’ turn-by-turn features, you can send friends your real-time location and expected arrival time.
The new Google Maps also brings the number of supported ridesharing apps to 14 across 70 countries, up from 9 in January.
Where real-time location’s involved, there’s an obvious privacy concern. But Jen Fitzpatrick, vice president of Google Maps, said that sharers are in control.
“Our goal is guiding and assisting users in the real world everyday,” Fitzpatrick told Engadget. “We’re stretching people’s perceptions on what maps can do for them, and the real-world tasks that we can help them with.”
Google further noted that it’s working with the Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse (CORA), a domestic abuse agency, to figure out the best way to protect the privacy of people dealing with abusive relationships.
Location sharing is rolling out to iOS, Android, and desktop users worldwide in the coming weeks.
Motorola has built some of my favorite foldables and flagship phones. I had a great time with both the Razr Fold and last year's Signature. So when the company began teasing the Signature 27, I couldn't help be excited. The new model comes with Qualcomm's blazing-fast Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, and better still, it is finally getting a proper global release.
One of the reasons I was obsessed with the last-gen Signature was its amazing price tag. But it seems like that budget flagship dream might be officially dead. Portuguese retailer MegaPC has prematurely listed a 12GB RAM and 512GB storage Signature 27 in Pantone Coal Smoke for €1,594.90 (approx. $1,775).
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.