WhatsApp live location
Thanks to an extended function in WhatsApp, users now have the option – for a limited choice of time periods – of sharing their location with friends on WhatsApp. This is very useful, for example, when you want to find each other again quickly, such as at festivals or other large events.
Thanks to WhatsApp, finding friends is no longer a problem and nobody gets lost on the way to the next meeting point any more! Save yourself unnecessary questions about the whereabouts of your children, your partner or your friends, because as long as sharing has been enabled you can also see the exact GPS location of your WhatsApp contact and can start the navigation to this location directly from your phone.
Live location shows where your friends are
With the extended functionality of one of the most frequently used WhatsApp tools, namely sending your location by means of WhatsApp, there are 3 options for sharing your location with friends or with the members of an individual chat group for a limited time.
The number of selectable time periods is limited to 3. The available options are 15 minutes, 1 hour and 8 hours. Once the activated location sharing has expired, the permission for friends to follow the location live lapses.
Live location is real-time phone tracking
Sharing your live location in WhatsApp works in principle like phone tracking that is carried out via GPS. The location can be requested within a defined time window. Requests beyond the previously defined time are not possible. These shares are automatically stopped once the time has expired.
What do I have to do in order to share my location with friends?
To keep things simple, WhatsApp has placed live location sharing within the familiar WhatsApp operation you already know. Perhaps you have even noticed it before, consciously or unconsciously.
All you need to do is call up the “Share location” function in order to get to the selection where you decide whether only a current location is to be sent via WhatsApp or whether a time-limited sharing of your live location via WhatsApp is desired.
Data protection when sharing your location on WhatsApp
So far, no examples are known in which Facebook has used the location data from WhatsApp for the purposes of the parent company, as was the case with the use of WhatsApp contact data by Facebook.
Who can use WhatsApp live location
This new WhatsApp feature is intended for all mobile phones and smartphones that are WhatsApp-capable. This includes all Android and iOS devices (iPhone and iPad). There are no costs for using WhatsApp live location, which means it is completely free of charge for all users.
Secretly tracking the location of friends?
Wherever new functions appear, the question of further uses is also raised. Of course, a function like this can also be used for secret phone tracking. The developers of WhatsApp were aware of this as well.
A time limit is intended to protect WhatsApp users.
The time limits set by WhatsApp are intended to protect users against misuse of the live location function. A maximum period of 8 hours also offers protection if live location sharing was set up unknowingly or if the user simply forgot to deactivate the live location.
Changing your WhatsApp live location?
Just as with the original WhatsApp function for sending your location, the function update for the WhatsApp live location can also be outsmarted, which allows you to share a different location with your friends.
Find out in the guide how to send a false location to your contacts on WhatsApp with the help of your Android or iPhone smartphone, without anyone noticing the deception. Simply let your friends believe that you are moving to another place in real time. This is made possible by simply changing your GPS position.