Once a live location is running, the chat contains a map rather than a message. This page is about that map: what the arrow means, how several people appear on it at once, what it costs the battery, and what happens when the time runs out.
The decision about whether to share at all is a separate question with its own page. This one assumes you have decided and want to use it well.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle Read the map: position, direction, distance and how fresh each is.
- check_circle Coordinate several people on one map without anyone narrating.
- check_circle Keep the battery cost reasonable on a long share.
- check_circle Know what the chat looks like after the share ends.
The marker carries a cone showing which way the person is facing — that, not the dot, is what tells you whether they are coming towards you.
location_on Reading the map
Each person sharing appears as a marker with their photo. The cone or arrow attached to it is their heading, taken from the phone's compass, and it updates as they turn. Two people walking towards each other in a crowd can be found by the cones long before the dots meet.
Tapping the map opens it full screen, where the distance between you and each person is shown and updated. In a group, everyone who is sharing appears on the same map, so a group spread across a city is one screen rather than a conversation.
Each marker also carries how recently it was updated. A position from four minutes ago is still shown, and treating it as current is the usual reason people walk past each other.
Four things people get wrong on the map
None of them are faults in the feature; all of them cost somebody twenty minutes.
schedule The marker that has not moved
battery_alert What it costs to run
group Everyone on one map
visibility After the timer runs out
The two habits: read the timestamp on the marker, and stop the share when you arrive.
settings While it is running
- Open the map full screen Tap the message. Distances and the list of people sharing are here.
- Set a proximity alert if you are waiting The bell on the map. It rings once when the person crosses the distance you set, so you can stop watching.
- Check the bar at the top of the chat list It appears whenever anything is being shared and names the chat.
- Extend or stop from the message Both are on the live location message itself.
- Send a pin when you stop If you are already somewhere, a static pin is a better record than an expired live share.
This page is the map while it is running. The curriculum step covers presence more broadly: what your account reveals about where and when you are active, and the settings that decide who can see any of it.
At a glance
- 1Read the map
Each person shows position, direction and how fresh it is.
- 2Several people
Everyone sharing appears on one map.
- 3Battery
Long shares cost battery; stop when you arrive.
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