The 3 Best Location Sharing Apps

Tell your friends where you are and have conversations based on your location

Map pin icons overlaying Manhattan, New York

 

Prasit photo / Getty Images

by Elise Moreau
Elise Moreau is a writer that has covered social media, texting, messaging, and streaming for Lifewire and previously About.com, since 2011.
Updated August 11, 2019

You can share your location through virtually any of the major social networking apps out there today — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. — but that doesn't mean that you always should, especially if your profiles are public and you've got a lot of friends or followers who may as well be considered complete strangers.

Location sharing is still a fun a way to tell your closest friends or family members what you're up to, and there are lots of apps out there you can use to specifically do just that — without blasting your exact location to everyone on the open Internet. All of these apps also give you flexible control of your privacy settings, so you can customize exactly what you do and don't want to share, and with whom.

Ready to share your next destination? Download one of the following apps to get started, and invite your friends and family to join the app too!

01
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Foursquare's Swarm

swarm app screenshots

Swarm
What We Like

  • It's easy to connect with existing friends.

  • Encourages use by collecting streaks and stickers.

  • Your location history can be viewed from a computer, too.

What We Don't Like

  • Sometimes has trouble logging in.

  • It's too easy to fake your location.

Back in 2010, Foursquare was the ultimate location-sharing app. It was fun and trendy for a while, but since then it's seen a lot of changes. The original Foursquare app is still available, but its primary use is for discovering places around you. Swarm is the newer app with the social networking component stripped out of the original app. For location sharing specifically, it's still one of the best apps out there.

Get Foursquare's Swarm: Android | iOS | Windows Phone

02
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Glympse

Glympse on smart watch

Dan LeFebvre / Flickr
What We Like

  • Useful for both smartphone and non-smartphone users.

  • Easy to use with few advanced options.

  • Works immediately, or you can enable extra features.

What We Don't Like

  • No option to share location details indefinitely.

If you're not sold on Swarm, well then there's Glympse — another great location sharing app that lets your friends see exactly where you are in real-time. Much like Snapchat, you can give your friends a "glympse" of your location before it automatically expires, so your location is never permanently posted.

Get Glympse: Android | iOS

03
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Life360

Life360 app icon

Life360
What We Like

  • Great for friends and families.

  • Locating sharing is usually very accurate.

  • Really easy to use.

  • Lots of useful features.

  • Advanced features can be purchased.

What We Don't Like

  • Occasionally shows the wrong location.

  • Free users are limited in a few ways.

Similar to Find My Friends, Life360 is all about sharing your location with the closest people in your life — your family members and best friends in particular. You start by building a main circle out of your immediate family members, and then you can keep creating more circles for other people — extended family members, friends, coworkers and so on. You can also message people directly through the app.

Get Life360: Android | iOS | Windows Phone