Share the journey without sharing your location forever
You're taking the children to their grandparents. Sharing the journey saves a string of “Where are you now?” messages and helps everyone know when to put lunch on.
But helping someone follow today's journey and letting them check your location next month are different arrangements. The screen can offer both within a few taps of each other.
Decide when the sharing should end before you send it. Then make sure the option you've chosen does that, rather than relying on someone to remember later.
Choose what the other person needs to know
If they need a meeting place, send the address or a fixed map pin. If they need to know when you're arriving, you can send a message with the time. Live trip sharing is useful when you want them to follow progress, but it reveals more of the journey.
| The reason for sharing | What to send |
|---|---|
| “Which entrance are we meeting at?” | The entrance's address or a fixed map pin. |
| “When should we expect you?” | An arrival-time message, or trip progress if you also want to share the moving location. |
| “Let's find each other at this event.” | Location sharing with a short duration. |
| “We want an ongoing family arrangement.” | Continuous sharing with named recipients, plus an agreement about when to review it. |
An agreement can be quite ordinary:
I'll share the drive with you until we arrive. Please don't forward the link or send screenshots of where we are.
When children are old enough to take part, explain who can see the location and why. Agree how you will use it, including what happens if the location stops updating. That gives them a chance to understand the arrangement instead of discovering it through questions about where they've been.
On an iPhone, check the device before sending the location
Open Find My → Me. To start sharing, turn on Share My Location, then look at Sharing From. If you mean to share the phone you're carrying and a different device is selected, choose Use This iPhone as My Location. Apple also notes that a paired cellular Apple Watch can supply the location when it's being worn out of range of the iPhone. Apple's location-sharing setup
Then open People → + → Share My Location, choose the person, tap Send and select the sharing duration. Check the recipient and duration before completing it. Those are the two choices that determine who can follow you and how long that access lasts. Apple's Find My instructions
Later, return to People and open the person's entry. To end their access, choose Stop Sharing My Location and confirm. To stop sharing with everyone through Find My, go to Me and switch off Share My Location. Apple's stop-sharing controls
Use those people-sharing controls when that is what you want to change. Find My iPhone, which helps you locate a lost device, is a separate setting with a different purpose.
In Google Maps, choose a time or share the trip
On Android or iPhone, open Google Maps → profile picture → Location sharing → New share. Choose the duration and person, then Share. To end it later, return to Location sharing, select that person and tap Stop. Google's Android instructions, iPhone instructions
For a journey, start navigation, swipe up on its information card and choose Share trip progress, then the person and Share. This sends your destination, current location and expected arrival time. It ends when you arrive or stop navigation; to end it earlier, use Stop sharing on that card. Google's trip-sharing instructions
A sharing link can work for someone without a Google account, but anyone who receives that link can use it while it's active, for up to 24 hours. Send it only to the intended recipient. Turning off Timeline doesn't end Location Sharing. Google's link and Location Sharing details
Check the audience, including arrival alerts
A person may be able to see more than the map point you have in mind. Google's sharing can reveal battery status and recent locations as well as the device's position. Its settings are specific to the device and account, so review the other accounts or devices you use for sharing too. Google also warns that a place label can be wrong in a busy area. Google's Location Sharing settings
Suppose a child's device appears beside a shop rather than at the club next door. That label alone isn't enough to conclude they went shopping. Check the time of the update and contact them if needed. A phone left in a bag can also tell you where the bag is while telling you very little about what the child is doing.
On an iPhone, open Find My → Me → Notifications About You, if that section is present. It shows location-change notifications about you, including ones other people set up. Open a name and notification to remove an alert you don't want. A notification each time you leave home may be more information than you intended to share for occasional meetups. Apple's location-notification controls
End the arrangement in the app that created it
Closing a map or putting the phone away is easy to confuse with finishing the sharing. Return to the sharing screen and use the appropriate stop control. Check for ongoing sharing you started before this particular trip too.
If you also want the saved journey removed from Google Maps Timeline, open profile picture → Your Timeline, choose the day, then More → Delete day and confirm. That deletes a stored day; it is separate from stopping a person's live access. Google says Timeline edits on one device aren't reflected on your other devices, and backups can take a few days to reflect changes. Check the other devices where you kept Timeline. Google's Timeline controls
To remove a device's Timeline backup, open the Timeline Backup screen, select that device under Your backups, then More → Delete → Turn off and delete. This removes that device's whole backup, not just the day, and doesn't delete the Timeline still stored on the device. Choose it only if that's the copy you want gone. Google's backup-deletion instructions
If you've also shared through another service, review that service separately. Ending a Google Maps share doesn't instruct a different app to end its own arrangement. Supervised children's accounts can have parent-managed controls, so use the relevant family settings rather than assuming an adult account's options will all be available.
On iPhone, Settings → Privacy & Security → Safety Check → Manage Sharing & Access provides a broader review of people, apps and account access. It requires iOS 16 or later and a signed-in Apple Account with two-factor authentication. Apple's Safety Check guide
If another person pressures you to share or you think changing access could put you at risk, consider that before making changes. Someone may notice when your location disappears; Apple says older systems may also send a notification. Use a device or account they cannot access to seek support if that is safer. Apple's advice on stopping location sharing
Before putting the phone away, check that the people who can still see you match the arrangement you still want. Then consider the other ways you reveal a place. A photo's stored location or a caption about your regular schedule can give away something even after the live map has stopped.
Sources reviewed 5 September 2026.