APPS SPECIAL...... ALWAYS ON TRACK

 ALWAYS ON TRACK





These apps and services provide a great way to effortlessly let your friends and loved ones know where you are

Can you remember a time before mobile phones? When you had to meet someone, all you could do was tell them the time and the place, and hope that they'll meet you there. Early mobile phones removed the anxiety of not knowing the person's whereabouts, but today, you don't even have to make a call to know the exact location of your friends. Thanks to smartphones and intelligent apps and services like these, you can share your location and co-ordinate meet-ups effortlessly. Google Trusted Contacts

Google Latitude was an early attempt by the search giant in the space of location sharing. It was eventually phased out because it made people's locations accessible to friends they allowed at all times. Trusted Contacts builds upon that concept, but isn't as creepy as Latitude was.

Available for Android and iPhone, users can install it and add their set of friends and family to the list.Once approved, you can request a contact's real-time location. Doing so makes the phone on the other end ring, with the app asking if the location should be shared. If the contact doesn't respond in five minutes, the location is automatically shared (provided the phone's still connected to the internet).

This is a great way to know where your loved ones are, especially when they're not responding to your calls or texts. The app also tells you how long it's been since the contact was last active. You can also broadcast your real-time location with select people or everybody on your list in case of an emergency.

Glympse

Before Google Maps had the location sharing feature, Glympse has been providing a similar function. It's available for Android and iPhone, and has features like ETA and the speed at which the location sharer is travelling. The ETA is possible because Glympse lets you add a destination when sharing. It also automatically stops location sharing once the person has reached there. Only the sender needs to have the app installed, as the location link can be opened in any web browser.

Google Maps

While Google Trusted Contacts is designed to be used among a close set of people, the Google Maps Location Sharing feature can be used with practically anybody. For example, if you're meeting someone and want to temporarily share your real-time location with them.

Just go to Google Maps, slide open the menu to the left side, and click Share Location. Here, you can choose a location sharing expiry of up to three days or until you manually turn it off. Next, select people from your contacts or use the `More' option to share a short link via any other app, and that's it. The recipient will see your real-time location whenever he or she chooses to. Privacy concerns These apps do bring convenience, but at the cost of your privacy. As you've seen, it's super easy to share your location with others, and while other users can only track you when you choose, the service creators themselves have access to your location data at all times. But we hope the benefits of using these services will outweigh these obvious concerns.

Messaging apps

Practically every popular messaging app, including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Telegram, comes with a location sharing feature baked in. Open a conversation, click the attachment button and hit `Location'.In some apps, this will share a fixed location from your phone. This means that unlike Google Maps or Glympse, if you move, it won't show the updated location unless you share it again. Some apps also support sharing live location for a prescribed time.

Ride hailing apps

Ride hailing apps like Uber and Ola have had a feature to share the cab location for a while now. Once you've booked the cab, look for the `Share Ride Status' option. Choose a contact and if they have the app installed, they'll receive a notification, else an SMS with a short link that opens up the same on the web browser. It includes your current location along with the cab and driver details.

The best part about sharing ride location is that your phone battery isn't consumed, because the location is pinged from the cab driver's phone -great if your phone battery is about to die but you want to keep someone posted of your whereabouts.

Rohan Naravane

MM7AUG17