Glympse: share your location briefly by link, no app needed
The veteran app (2008) for “I’m on my way”: a temporary link anyone can open without installing anything. Perfect for one trip; for a family’s everyday life, it falls short on purpose.
Glympse was born in Seattle in 2008 with a simple idea that still works: you share where you are for a while (from 5 minutes to 12 hours), and the other person sees it on a link, in the browser, with no app to install and no account to create. If what you want is for someone to see how you’re getting to their place, it’s about as convenient as it gets.
What it does and doesn’t do
- Yes: temporary link sharing with an estimated arrival time; free; the other person doesn’t need the app.
- No: permanent circle, arrival alerts for places, SOS, chat, the other person’s battery. It’s temporary by design, which is either an advantage or a limitation depending on what you’re looking for.
Price and data
Free; on the App Store in Spain it has Premium purchases (€9.99/month, €99.99/year) as of October 14, 2026. Its App Store listing declares data used for third-party advertising: if that matters to you, check it first.
When to choose something else
For a quick “I’m on my way,” Glympse, WhatsApp, or Google Maps will do (when WhatsApp is enough). For a family that wants their phone to alert them on its own when someone gets home, with SOS and no ads, it’s a different category: Mi Estela vs Glympse, with the comparison table and sources.
