How to Share Your Location With Family on iPhone and Android

“Text me when you get there” works until someone forgets, a phone dies or a teen is driving at night in the rain. Location sharing fixes the guesswork, and it’s built into every modern phone. The tricky parts are mixed iPhone and Android families, and agreeing on rules so it feels like a safety net, not a tracking collar.

This guide covers step-by-step setup on iPhone, Android and across both, the extra safety features worth knowing, and how to talk about boundaries with teens, partners and aging parents.

Which location sharing option fits your family

Your choice mostly depends on what phones your family uses.

Third-party family locator apps such as Life360 add features like driving reports and place alerts, sometimes on paid plans. The built-in tools are enough for most families.

Key takeaway: Start with the built-in tool everyone can use. For mixed iPhone and Android families, that’s usually Google Maps location sharing. Then agree on rules before you turn it on, not after.

How to share your location on iPhone

With Find My

1. Make sure location is on: Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services, then make sure Find My is allowed.
2. Open the Find My app and tap People.
3. Tap the plus button, then Share My Location.
4. Enter your family member’s name or number and tap Send.
5. Choose Share for One Hour, Share Until End of Day or Share Indefinitely.

The other person can share their location back. To stop sharing, open their name in the People tab and tap Stop Sharing My Location.

With Family Sharing

If you’ve set up Family Sharing, each member can turn on location sharing for the whole family group at once. This is the simplest route for parents of kids on iPhone, because a child account can be set to share automatically. Our guide to parental controls on iPhone and Android covers child accounts in detail.

With Check In for a single trip

In Messages, you can start a Check In with a family member. It notifies them when you arrive, and if you don’t arrive within the expected time, it can share helpful details like your location and battery level. It’s ideal for a teen’s late drive home or an older parent’s solo trip.

How to share your location on Android

With Google Maps

1. Open Google Maps and tap your profile picture.
2. Tap Location sharing, then New share (or Share location).
3. Choose how long: a set amount of time, or until you turn this off.
4. Pick the person from your contacts and tap Share.

People you share with can see your name, photo, real-time location and battery status. You can also control whether each person can set notifications about you, such as when you arrive home.

With Find Hub

Google renamed its Find My Device app to Find Hub in May 2025. Its People tab lets you share your real-time location with family and friends, and it uses the same Google Location Sharing settings as Maps.

With Family Link for kids

For children with supervised Google accounts, parents can see device location through Google Family Link, without the child needing to start a share.

How to share location between iPhone and Android

Apple’s Find My only works between Apple devices, so mixed families need a cross-platform option. The easiest is Google Maps, which runs on iPhone and Android:

1. Install Google Maps on the iPhone and sign in with a Google Account.
2. On the iPhone, allow Google Maps location access set to Always in Settings > Google Maps > Location, so sharing keeps working in the background.
3. Start a share from Google Maps on either phone, as described above.

The iPhone user’s location updates more reliably with Background App Refresh on. If someone stops showing up, check that first.

When a family member’s location stops updating

Location sharing fails for a few predictable reasons, on any phone:

• Location services were turned off, or the app’s permission was changed from Always to While Using or Never.
• The phone is off, out of battery or offline. Most apps show the last known location and when it was updated, so check the timestamp before you worry.
• Battery saver or Low Power Mode is limiting background activity.
• They signed out of the Apple or Google Account used for sharing, or switched phones without setting sharing up again.
• The share expired, because it was set for 1 hour or until the end of the day.

Fix these together in person if you can, and agree that anyone who turns sharing off on purpose just says so. That keeps a dead battery from turning into a panic.

Talking about boundaries

Location sharing works best as an agreement, not a surprise. Different family members need different conversations.

With teens

• Explain the why. Safety for driving, late nights and emergencies, not checking up on every stop.
• Be clear about when you’ll look. For example, only when they’re late, not responding or traveling.
• Make it 2-way. Parents sharing their own location shows it’s about family safety.
• Plan for more privacy over time. Agree to revisit the setup at milestones, like getting a license or turning 18.

With partners

Location sharing between adults should always be mutual and voluntary. If a partner insists on tracking you, checks your location constantly or gets angry when you turn it off, that’s a warning sign of controlling behavior. On iPhone, Safety Check (in Settings > Privacy & Security) shows everyone you’re sharing with and lets you stop all sharing at once.

With aging parents

For an older parent who lives alone, location sharing can bring real peace of mind, especially combined with fall detection. Ask permission, explain who will see it and keep it to a small group. Our guide on helping aging parents with tech remotely covers the rest of the setup.

Keep location sharing safe

Location data is sensitive, so treat it that way:

1. Review who can see you every few months. Remove anyone who no longer needs access.
2. Prefer time-limited shares for anyone outside your household.
3. Watch for apps that track you too. Location sharing with family is different from apps quietly collecting location. See how to stop apps from tracking you.
4. Check for unknown trackers. iPhone and Android can both alert you to an unknown tracking tag traveling with you.
5. Secure the account. Anyone who gets into your Apple or Google Account can see shared locations, so turn on two-factor authentication.

Where to start

1. List who in your family needs to share, and with whom.
2. Pick 1 tool everyone can use: Find My for all-iPhone families, Google Maps for mixed ones.
3. Have the boundaries conversation first.
4. Set up sharing together, in person, so everyone sees what’s being shared.
5. Test it once: open the app and confirm everyone appears.
6. Put a reminder in your calendar to review it in 3 months.

The bottom line

Sharing your location with family takes 2 minutes on iPhone or Android, and Google Maps bridges the gap for mixed families. The technology is the easy part. What makes it work is a clear agreement about who sees what, when you’ll look and when it changes. Get that right, and location sharing becomes a quiet safety net everyone trusts. If your child is getting their first phone, our first phone for a kid guide is a good next read.

Sources

• Apple Support: Find My User Guide, share your location — Find My sharing durations and setup
• Apple Support: iPhone User Guide — Family Sharing, Messages location sharing and Find My features
• Google Account Help: Manage your Location Sharing settings — what people you share with can see, notifications and how to stop sharing
• 9to5Google: Google’s Find My Device network is now Find Hub — May 2025 rename and People tab location sharing