Google Maps is one of the most widely used web mapping platforms globally, and the company recently introduced the ability to share live locations with friends and family. This feature proved instrumental in tracking and will also help users to recover a stolen smartphone. Google Maps's live location-sharing functionality provides real-time access to the device's location (with up to 2-meter accuracy), battery percentage, and other critical information. If you have lost a phone, which is sharing real-time location with another device, it is best not to call the phone and track the live location with the help of authorities, especially if it has been stolen. Again, this only works if the device is still on with the active internet connection and is not turned off. How to share the live location on Google Maps? One can share the live location via Google Maps on both Android and iOS devices. Make sure that you have the latest version of Google Maps > Click on the "profile picture" in the top right corner > Select "location sharing "> Click on "new share" and select the duration, contact, or platform that you would like to share your location with. To share your location, you also need to give the Maps app permission to access your location at all times. Once done, one will be able to track your live location from their smartphone or even laptop with an active internet connection. Both Android and iOS manufacturers have implemented measures to make it challenging to power off a smartphone. Users often need to press a combination of keys to access the power menu, and in some cases, phones do not offer a power menu in the locked state. Certain iPhones allow tracking of the device even when turned off through the Find My feature. However, these features become ineffective if a thief removes the SIM card. Therefore, it is advisable to use an eSIM instead of a physical SIM card. Google Maps enables users to share their live location even with non-Google users, and this can be shared using any messaging platform. While the live location-sharing feature is relatively recent in Google Maps, similar functionalities have been available on WhatsApp for a while. Other apps like Ola and Uber also offer live location-sharing capabilities. While these features may raise privacy concerns for some users, in this particular scenario, they proved instrumental in finding and recovering a lost phone.
