Your iPhone gives you the ability to share your location with a contact, such as a friend or family member.
This can be a useful option for parents who want to be able to check on their child, or when a group is traveling together and you want to find a lost person.
But you need to enable this feature to use it, which we’ll talk about in our guide below.
You can share your location on your iPhone by opening Messages, selecting a conversation, tapping a contact’s name, selecting Share my location, and choosing a time period.
How to share your location with someone on iPhone
- Open the Messages app.
- Select a conversation.
- Click on the contact’s name.
- Select Share my location.
- Choose the duration.
Our guide continues below with more information on how to share location on iPhone 13, including pictures of the steps.
The Messages app on your iPhone has several options for sharing content with other people.
You can send links to webpages and share contact information, text images, videos, and more if that person also has an Apple device.
A sharing feature you may not be using also allows you to share your location with a contact. This gives them the ability to check your current location at any time.
This feature can be turned on and off as needed, and can be done from a text message or iMessage conversation.
Related: Our messages sent as text evidence can show you why some of your messages are sent as green bubbles and not blue.
How to send or share your iPhone location
The steps in this article were done on an iPhone 13 running iOS 16.
Step 1: Click on the Messages icon to open the app.
Step 2: Select the message dialog with the person you want to share your location with.
Step 3: Click on the contact’s name at the top of the screen.
Step 4: Select the “Share my location” option.
There is also a Share current location option here, which you can do if you want to send them a pin with your current location instead of giving them permanent access to your location.
Step 5: Choose the time period for which you want to share your location.
You can choose from the following options:
- Share 1 hour
- Share until the end of the day
- Post indefinitely
Now that you know how to share your location on iPhone 13, you can use this as an alternative to sending an address or trying to describe your location to someone.
How to enable location services on iPhone
Please note that you will need to enable location services on your iPhone if you want to use this feature.
You can enable location services on your iPhone by following these steps.
Step 1: Open the Settings app.
Step 2: Scroll down and select “Privacy and Security”.
Step 3: Tap on Location Services at the top of the screen.
Step 4: Tap the button next to Location Services to turn it on or off.
You can also scroll down and select the Messages option and then make sure one of the options on that screen other than Never is selected.
How to send your location from iPhone contacts
If you don’t have a conversation with someone in a text message, or if you’d prefer to do it a different way, you can also send your location through your contact list.
Step 1: Open the Phone app.
Step 2: Select the Contacts tab at the bottom of the screen.
Step 3: Select a contact.
Step 4: Scroll down and select Share my location.
Step 5: Choose one of the posting duration options.
Note that you can also do this from the Contacts app. If you can’t find the Contacts app, you can use the search option on the home screen, or you can find it in the More folder on the second home screen.
More information about sharing iPhone contacts
When you select the “Share your location” option in the message dialog, there is also a “Send my current location” option.
This might be preferable if you want to send someone a pin to tell them where you are right now, but don’t want them to be able to see your location all the time when you’re on the move. This option is like sending someone an address instead of letting them track you while you’re on the move.
Maps and navigation apps also have ways to share your location with someone else.
In Google Maps, you can send your location to someone by opening the app, tapping the blue dot that represents your current location, and then selecting Share my location. You can then select the amount of time you want to share your location, then select contacts to receive this information and click Share.
In Apple Maps, you can share your location by opening the Maps app and tapping on the blue dot. Select the option to share your location, select an app to send this information to, and then select a contact.
When you were in the Location Services menu in one of the earlier sections of this article, you might have noticed that there was a Share My Location menu item.
If you select this item, a new menu opens where you can set Find My iPhone, turn sharing my location on or off, and see all of your contacts who can currently see your location. .