The Complete Guide to Google+ Location Sharing

If you have an Android phone, the lowest power way I know of to share your location with loved ones is by using Google+.

First you have to share your location with your friends.
- To do this from your computer:
  1. Open Google+. Place your cursor in the top left corner for the Google+ main menu.
  2. Click Settings .
  3. Scroll down to “Location Settings” and check the box next to Enable Location Sharing to start sharing your location. You can uncheck the box to turn off location sharing, which turns off sharing for both your pinpoint location and city-level location.
  4. To select who you share your precise location with, use the drop-down menu next to Who can see your Pinpoint location.
  5. To select who you share your city location with, use the drop-down menu next to Who can see your City location.
- To do this from your Android phone:
  1. Open the Google+ app .
  2. Touch the menu button or icon >** Settings**.
  3. Touch the account name you’d like to update.
  4. Touch **Location sharing **> next to “Location Sharing”, turn the switch on or off.
  - To share your precise location, scroll down to where it says “Pinpoint Location” and touch Edit. Choose the people and circles you’d like to share your precise location with > **DONE **at the top right.
  - To share your current city location, scroll down to where it says “City Location” and touch Edit. Choose the people and circles you’d like to share your city location with > DONE at the top right.
Then have your friends do the same, including you in their location sharing circle(s).
Now to view your friends on the map, use the Android Google+ app (you can’t do this on a normal computer yet).
1. Open the Google+ app > touch the down arrow near the top right corner.
2. Touch Locations at the bottom of the screen. You’ll see a map that shows everyone who shares their location with you.
3. Touch the photo of a person to display their location details at the bottom of the screen.

Tips and tricks for viewing locations

You can use the arrow buttons at the bottom of the map to cycle through peoples’ locations.
You can touch the person icon to see the most recent locations of the people who’ve shared their location with you.
You can touch the profile photo of a friend on the map to see their location.
- People who are located near each other may appear in a single grouping with a number indicating the number of people in that group. Touching the group will show a list of all of their current locations. You can also zoom in to break up these groups.
- On the map, the shape of a friend’s profile photo indicates if you’re viewing their pinpoint location or city-level location. If their profile photo is square, you’re viewing their pinpoint location. If their profile photo is round, you’re viewing their city-level location.
You can use circles to filter who appears on your map. To filter the map by circles:
1. Touch the menu button/icon (for Android) or (for iOS).
2. Touch Filter Map.
3. Check the box next to the Circles containing the people you’d like to see and touch OK.