Live location sharing can be incredibly useful, especially if you're headed somewhere and want to keep friends and family up to date on your progress. Unfortunately, Google Messages has always lacked this feature, only offering the option to send a single static location via Google Maps. But that might be about to change.
9to5Google has been diving into the code of the latest Google Messages beta, and found references to live location sharing hiding in the code. From the looks of things, this feature will be powered by Android's Find Hub, which already offers the ability to share your live location.
Presumably, the new feature will mimic that version of location sharing almost exactly. That means users should be able to share their location for an hour, one day, or until the user in question physically switches it off. Link-based sharing should also be available in the event that you need to share your whereabouts with someone who doesn't use Android or Google Messages.
That should help make things a lot more convenient. The last thing you need when you're trying to send a live location to someone is to keep switching between apps.
Convenience and security
Sharing your location is not something you want to be doing all the time, but it can be incredibly useful for both convenience and security.
Whether you're meeting someone or you want to ensure a parent's peace of mind when you're going out, real-time location sharing means they can keep tabs on you without constantly having to ask you where you are. Nor do you have to keep continually sending them location stamps.
It's a wonder why Google hasn't included this feature before, especially since the likes of Apple iMessage and WhatsApp all offer their own real-time location features. It's just not clear when Google will roll out the feature to Messages, though hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later.
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