WhatsApp Introduces New Feature To Share Live Locations

Facebook owned messaging service WhatsApp has introduced a new feature which allows users to share their live locations for a certain period of time.

According to WhatsApp’s official blog, the new live location has been in beta version for a while. The new update will let all users track the locations of their friends and family and keep a tab on them until they reach their destination. Users can willingly share locations and choose between various time frames for the live tracking to last.

Since the live locations are shared on a chat level, they are equipped with end to end encryption in both one on one WhatsApp conversations and group chats. The live sharing can be manually stopped at any given time. The new update will be available on Android and iPhone devices in the coming weeks.

Live Locations, which show up as thumbnails in chats, also allows users to switch from Satellite to Terrain view and see live traffic data as an overlay. In WhatsApp groups, the information of all the users sharing their locations can be seen together at a particular point in time. Users will not have to scroll up to try to find the message where the location was originally shared. According to a news daily, special techniques were used in the implementation of the new feature to help conserve the battery of the smartphones. Speaking about the latest update, the Product Manager at WhatsApp, Zafir Khan said, “We are just launching this feature so this will be something that we also continuously optimise over time as we get more usage of the feature.”

Telegram, which is WhatsApp’s rival in India, launched a similar feature recently that allows users to share their location in real time with family or friends. Along with Telegram, Facebook’s Messenger, and Apple’s iMessage let users share their locations. While Messenger users can share their location for only 1 hours a day, iMessage gives users access to share their location either for one hour, until the end of the day or even indefinitely.