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Facebook Messenger adds live location sharing

The feature allows users to share their location for up to an hour with another person or a group.
Written by Stephanie Condon, Senior Writer
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Facebook on Monday rolled out a new feature that lets Messenger users share their real-time location with another person or a group for up to one hour. The feature is available globally and on both iOS and Android.

The feature is available by tapping the "location" icon or the "more" icon and then selecting "location." Messenger will show you a map of your current location and give you the option to tap a blue bar to share your location for 60 minutes. You can top "stop sharing" at any time, and you'll see a small countdown clock that shows for how much longer you're set to share your location. The people you've shared with can get an estimate of how long it would take you to reach them by car. It's also possible to share a static point on a map, so you can meet up with someone.

Facebook found that "How far away are you?" or some variation of that is one of the most-used phrases on Messenger, Stan Chudnovsky, head of product for Messenger, told Reuters.

Just last week, Google introduced its own location-sharing feature on Maps, while the Messages app for iPhone also has a similar feature.

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