Live location sharing is probably one feature that’s made our lives much easier. I can say this with full confidence, as I rely on it constantly and often ask my friends to share their location. This typically happens whenever I’m heading to a friend’s house, or the other way around. It’s particularly useful when traveling at night, allowing someone to track your movements in real-time. It’s surprising, then, that Google Messages still doesn’t support live location sharing, especially given that it has over a billion active users.
Google Messages doesn’t support live location sharing yet
Right now, Google Messages lets you share your location by sending a Google Maps link that pinpoints your position. It’s not totally useless, but it only shows a snapshot of where you are at that moment. The problem is, once you’re on the move, it’s pretty much pointless. Thankfully, though, things are about to change.
Android Authority spotted a line of code in the latest beta version of Google Messages, which hints at Live Location Sharing feature. That means it’s in the works, and we may expect it will be added soon. The code contains the string, “live_location_sharing_shortcut_title” suggesting that the app is preparing to offer a shortcut to share your live location in real-time. This feature isn’t active yet, so it appears to be a work-in-progress. But the fact that it’s there in beta version, we might expect the roll out soon.
Live location has definitely become a standard feature across several messaging platforms, and it’s easy to see why. There are plenty of use cases, though I can only think of a few myself, which is what I use it for. So, it’ll be great once Google Messages rolls out this feature to everyone.
For now, you can only share a fixed location in Google Messages. If you need live sharing, you’ll have to temporarily switch to WhatsApp, Telegram, or something else. But don’t worry, Google Messages is getting closer to adding live location sharing to the app.
