Facebook Adds Live Location Sharing to Messenger
Today Facebook announced a new way to share your location in Messenger, a feature that is rolling out globally across iOS and Android.
“We’ve been testing this for a little while, and people tell us that Live Location is helpful when trying to coordinate with friends, telling people how close you are when you’re on your way to an appointment, or even sharing where you are with your roommate when you’re on your way home at night,” says Selena Wang, product manager for Messenger. “You can share your Live Location with a group of friends in Messenger or just with one person.”
To share your Live Location in a message on iOS, tap the Location icon or tap the More icon and then select Location. You’ll see a map of your current location and the option to tap a blue bar to share your Live Location. Sharing lasts 60 minutes by default but can be manually shut off at any time.
“It’s still possible to share a static point on a map, too,” Wang added. “For example, if you want to tell a friend which coffee shop to meet you at, tap the the location pin or the More icon, and then instead of choosing Share Live Location, tap the red pin in the upper right hand corner.”
Google recently added a virtually identical feature to its Maps app.
