(Credit: René Ramos/Apple)
If you’re on the move and want someone to know your location, Apple’s Live Location and Check In let you share your travel progress or destination, allowing recipients to keep track of you while in transit and remain informed if you’re delayed.
Live Location has let you share your whereabouts via the Contacts or Find My apps since iOS 15. With the upgrade to iOS 17, you can also share and track it via Messages.
You can choose how long you want to share your location—an hour, until the end of the day, or indefinitely. When you share your live location with someone else, that person is able to view it in Messages, Find My, or Apple Maps. You can also share your location in a group message, and everyone in the group will be able to see it.
Also new with iOS 17, Check In alerts other people when you’ve reached your destination as a way to assure family and friends that you’re safe. The feature sends a text that shows your destination and arrival time. If you’re delayed, or the allotted time has passed, you can extend the time. If you don’t respond after the timer runs out, Check In will alert the other person that you haven’t arrived, and they can try to track you down through your phone’s location.
Before you can share your location, head to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services. At the bottom of the screen, choose System Services, and turn on Share My Location. To update your iPhone to iOS 17, meanwhile, go to Settings > General > Software Update. You will then be told that your OS is up to date or see a prompt to install the latest update.
How to Share Your Live Location
To share your live location from the Messages app on your iPhone, tap the plus (+) icon to display the list of iMessage apps, then select Location. If a notice appears asking for permission to share your location, select Allow Once or Allow While Using App. Your current location appears in a small map on the screen.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)Tap Share to share it with the other person. From the pop-up menu, choose whether you want to share your location for one hour, until the end of the day, or indefinitely. Tap the blue arrow to send the text displaying your real-time location.
You can also share your location at a person’s contact screen. Tap the name of the other person at the top of a text conversation and select Share My Location. Choose how long to share it. After your location appears, tap the blue arrow to send the text.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)The recipient receives your text message with a map showing your current location as you travel. Tapping the icon with the hours or minutes brings up directions to your location. Tapping the Share icon allows them to share their own location with you.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)Other Ways to Monitor Live Location
The other person can monitor your live location using a few other methods. One way is to open the Find My app and select your name under People. Or open the Maps app and look for the directions to your location. They can also tap your name at the top of a conversation in Messages.
To immediately stop sharing your location with the other person, open the text chat, tap their name at the top of the screen, and then tap Stop Sharing My Location. A notice appears in your Messages conversation that you’ve stopped sharing your location. Another notice appears in the other person’s conversation that your location has expired.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)How to Request Someone’s Location
You can also request that someone else share their live location. In the Messages app, open a conversation with the other person. Tap the plus (+) icon to view the iMessage apps and select Location. Tap Request and send the text.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)The other person will then receive your request and can choose to share their location. They would tap the Share button in the message prompt, then choose whether to share their location for one hour, until the end of the day, or indefinitely. Sending the resulting text then shares their location, letting you keep track of it in real time.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)Check In: How to Share Your Destination
Open the Messages app and select a trusted person with whom you want to share your location. Only contacts with whom you have a history will be eligible. Tap the plus (+) icon in the lower left to display the iMessage apps and choose Check In.
The first time you select Check In, Apple will ask you to choose how much data to share. Select Limited to share your most recent location and details about your battery and network signal. Choose Full to also share the route you took and the location of your iPhone the last time it was unlocked. To change this later, go to Settings > Messages > Data.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)The text message is then generated on your end. Tap Edit in the text to tweak the different settings. You’re given two choices for setting your expected arrival time.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)To set the time for when you physically arrive at the location, tap When I arrive. Under the displayed map, tap the Change button. In the search field, start typing the address for your destination and select it from the list. The location appears in a larger map on the screen. You can narrow or widen the area included in your destination to control how precise you want the Check In feature to be. Tap Small, Medium, or Large at the bottom to change the size of the blue circle that signifies what is included as part of your destination. When finished, tap Done.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)If you instead want to set a specific timer for your arrival, tap the After a timer heading. At the timer screen, swipe up or down to change the number of hours and minutes for your arrival time. When finished, tap Done.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)Next, select the type of transportation you’ll be using—Driving, Transit, or Walking. If you plan to make any stops or otherwise pause along the way, tap the Add Time link and select 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or 1 hour to add to the timer. Tap Done.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)Back at the Messages screen, tap the blue arrow to send the text to the recipient. The person on the receiving end gets a notification of your Check In. Tapping the Details button displays the ETA and a notification that the person will be notified when you arrive.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)If you selected the option for After a timer to set your check in to a specific time, you can add a certain number of minutes to increase it. Open the message and tap Details. At the next screen, tap Add Time and then select 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or 1 hour to extend your arrival time. If you no longer need to share your arrival time, tap Cancel Check In and confirm the cancellation.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)When your timer has ended, tap the Details button and then tap Cancel Check In to indicate that you reached your destination. If you don’t cancel the timer, or if a certain number of minutes pass after the countdown has elapsed, the recipient will receive a critical notification.
Tapping the notification takes them to the original text message. From there, tapping the Details button displays a screen where that person can call you or check your location on a map.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)
