Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google is working on adding live location sharing to the Messages app.
- Currently, the app only lets you share your location by choosing through the in-built location picker.
Whether you’re meeting up with friends or need someone to pick you up, being able to send your location to someone can be helpful in plenty of situations. While you could give that person the address you’re located at, it would be even more helpful to share your location in real time. You may be able to do this soon in the Google Messages app.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
In the Google Messages app, you can quickly share your location with someone else by using the “Location” shortcut. To get to this shortcut, all you have to do is open the app > start or open a conversation > tap the + button > tap on Location > and hit send. Doing so will send a Google Maps link that will show the other person where you are on the map. While this is a useful feature, it would be even better if you could choose to share your live location, especially if you’re on the move.
The Messages app has never supported live location sharing, but that could change in the near future. We have discovered in the latest beta (version messages.android_20250420_01_RC00.phone.openbeta_dynamic) of Google Messages a new line of code, which you can see below:
Code
<string name="live_location_sharing_shortcut_title">Live Location Sharing</string>This single string suggests Google is preparing to add a new live location sharing shortcut. The shortcut is not enabled yet, so it appears to still be a work in progress.
