Real-time location: what it is, how it works and how to share it
“I'm sending you my real-time location” gets said a lot but understood very little. What it really is, why the dot doesn't move every second, how long it lasts in each app, how much battery it uses, who sees it, and when a family app is worth it.
Sharing real-time location means letting someone see on a map where you are while you're moving, not just where you were when you sent them a pin. Almost any phone can do it with WhatsApp, Google Maps or Find My, and family location apps do it too. The idea is the same across all of them; what changes is how long it lasts, who sees it and what happens when you close the app. Here's everything, with each company's details checked on October 15, 2026.
Current location and real-time location are not the same thing
- Current (or static) location: one dot on the map, just once. “I'm here.” If you move, the dot stays where it was.
- Real-time (or live) location: your position keeps updating on its own for a while. “Follow me while I get there.”
To meet at a door, the current one is enough. For “I'm on my way, see where I'm headed,” you need real-time. If you only want to send a single pin, you'll find it step by step in how to send your location in each app.
How it works behind the scenes
Your phone works out where it is using what it has nearby (GPS and Galileo satellites outdoors, nearby Wi-Fi networks inside buildings, cell towers when there's nothing else) and sends that position to a server, which passes it on to whoever has permission to see it. “Real-time” doesn't mean every second: when you're moving, positions arrive every few seconds; when you're standing still, the phone spaces out the updates to save battery. That's why the map says “a moment ago” or “10 minutes ago,” and it's not a bug. We explain it in why the location app says “10 minutes ago”.
What affects accuracy
- The place: outdoors, a few meters; indoors, tens of meters (Wi-Fi takes over); between tall buildings, the dot can jump across the street. It's covered in why the blue dot jumps.
- The permission: if the app has “precise location” turned off (iPhone since iOS 14, Android since version 12), it gets a zone several kilometers wide, not your exact dot.
- Background permission: with “only while using the app,” your position freezes as soon as you close it. To keep updating, you need “Always” (iPhone) or “Allow all the time” (Android): permissions, one by one.
- Coverage: GPS works without a network, but sending your position needs data or Wi-Fi. Without coverage, others see your last position with its time (what happens without coverage).
Who offers it and how long it lasts
| App | How long it lasts | What's good to know |
|---|---|---|
| 15 minutes, 1 hour or 8 hours | End-to-end encrypted; in groups, everyone sees it on the same map | |
| Telegram | 15 minutes, 1 hour, 8 hours or until you turn it off | Proximity alert between two people |
| Google Maps | From 1 hour (extendable) until you turn it off | Works between iPhone and Android; also via link |
| Google Messages (Android) | 1 hour, just for today, until you turn it off, or custom (24 h max) | Runs on Google Maps underneath; not end-to-end encrypted like messages |
| Find My and Messages (iPhone) | 1 hour, until the end of the day or indefinitely | Only between Apple devices; arrival and departure alerts |
| Snapchat | 15 minutes, 1 hour or 8 hours | Separate from Snap Map, which updates when you open the app |
| Family location apps | As long as you're in your circle | Built for everyday life: spots, arrival alerts, SOS |
WhatsApp, Telegram and Snapchat sharing is meant for a little while: it turns off on its own. Google Maps and Find My can stay on “until you turn it off,” so it's worth remembering who can see you (we cover this in (we cover this in what the other person sees when you stop sharing).
Does it drain the battery?
Less than you'd think, if the app is well built: it doesn't turn on GPS every second, it uses the motion sensor to know when you're moving, and it relies on Wi-Fi and cell towers when you're still. What does drain it is using navigation with the screen on, or a phone with poor coverage constantly searching for signal. What really gets in the way are some manufacturers' battery optimizers, which put the app to sleep and freeze your dot. The numbers are in how much battery a location app really uses.
Privacy: who sees your dot
- Who: only the people or the chat you share with. Check the list now and then: in WhatsApp it's under Settings › Privacy › Live Location; in Google Maps and Find My, on the sharing screen itself.
- Until when: time-limited sharing expires on its own; indefinite sharing doesn't.
- What the company does with it: look at the app's privacy label in its store, and if its policy mentions “licensing” or “sharing with partners” location data, take note.
When a family app makes sense
For a short stretch (“I'm on my way,” a meetup, a trip), WhatsApp or Google Maps is plenty. A family app makes sense when what you want is the everyday stuff: knowing your kid got to school without checking a map, that your mom got home, that someone can ask for help with a button. In Mi Estela, sharing location, arrival alerts for three spots (within a 150-meter radius by default) and SOS are free; each person chooses whether they appear precisely, only by area or invisible, and everyone in the circle sees the same things about each other. For people who don't have the app, there are two shortcuts: “Let me know when you arrive,” which sends a WhatsApp link and alerts you when they get there, and a live link that opens in the browser for as long as it's active. If you're torn between the two, when WhatsApp is enough compares them point by point.
Sources
- WhatsApp: “Share your Live Location” (official blog, Oct 17, 2017; checked Oct 15, 2026)
- TechRadar: how to share your location on WhatsApp (15 minutes, 1 hour or 8 hours; checked Oct 15, 2026)
- Droid Life: Telegram adds location sharing “until you turn it off” (Apr 29, 2024; checked Oct 15, 2026)
- Google: sharing real-time location from Google Messages (checked Oct 15, 2026)
- Tech Advisor: Google Maps location sharing durations (Sep 5, 2023; checked Oct 15, 2026)
- Apple: share your location with iPhone (checked Oct 15, 2026)
