Why 24/7 Location Tracking Isn’t for Everyone: A Case for On-Demand Sharing

In the age of always-on connectivity, it’s never been easier to share your location. Apps like Life360, Apple’s Find My, and Google’s Find My Device offer real-time tracking across devices, giving family and friends continuous access to each other’s whereabouts. For many, this is reassuring. For others, it’s invasive. And for most, it’s simply not appropriate in every context.

While 24/7 tracking may work in tight-knit families, it doesn’t scale well to everyday life where we engage with a range of relationships—from partners and parents to coworkers, classmates, and casual acquaintances.

The Appeal of Constant Tracking

24/7 tracking isn’t inherently bad. In fact, it serves some important needs.

• Life360 is popular among families, offering constant location monitoring, driving history, and arrival alerts.

• Apple’s Find My helps iPhone users find each other or their devices with minimal setup, but it only works across Apple devices.

• Google’s Find My Device is designed primarily to locate Android devices, making it useful for security purposes—but only within the Android ecosystem.

These tools are valuable—especially for parents with young children, couples who travel often, or people in high-risk situations. In emergencies, 24/7 visibility can literally save lives.

But It’s Not for Everyone

There’s a growing recognition that constant tracking creates new tensions—especially when it's applied indiscriminately. One frustrated parent on Reddit wrote, “It ruined my teenager’s life.” Their teen felt suffocated, with no room for independence or trust. Instead of building connection, the app became a wedge.

It’s not just teens. Adults can feel overwhelmed too. Knowing that someone can see your location at all times—without any context—creates pressure to explain, respond, or justify. It turns a helpful tool into a form of passive surveillance.

And it doesn’t stop there. What if the person isn’t a family member?

Not All Relationships Are Meant for Always-On

One major flaw in the always-on model is that it assumes everyone you're connected to is someone you want to share your location with all the time. But life isn’t that simple.

• New friends from a meetup or community event?

• Colleagues coordinating a work offsite?

• Classmates from university group projects?

• Parents from a shared carpool?

These are all relationships where temporary or event-based location sharing might be useful—but permanent tracking is out of the question.

In these cases, 24/7 location visibility is not only overkill—it’s inappropriate. It creates discomfort, risks privacy, and can even damage the budding trust in newer social connections.

Enter On-Demand Location Sharing

On-demand sharing flips the model. Instead of being “always visible,” users share their location only when it makes sense—for a set time, with specific people, for a defined purpose.

This approach supports:

• Trust over control – Share because you want to, not because it’s on by default.

• Contextual sharing – Location is tied to an event or need, not a continuous stream.

• Boundaries – You can collaborate with friends, colleagues, or classmates without exposing your entire day.

  
  

What Options Exist?

A number of platforms have embraced temporary or on-demand location sharing:

• Google Maps – Offers live sharing for a selected duration with trusted contacts. However, it works best within the Google ecosystem and assumes both parties use Google services.

• WhatsApp – Lets you share your live location briefly in chats, regardless of platform.

• Messenger – Includes a temporary location feature in conversations. Also cross-platform.

• Glympse – Focuses on sending quick, time-limited location updates with no account needed.

• Arrival Go – Designed for flexible social sharing. It allows users to form temporary or private groups, start or stop sharing at any time, and adjust sharing duration with a single tap. Unlike Apple’s or Google’s tools, it works across both iOS and Android.

  
  

A Better Way to Stay Connected

As location-sharing becomes more normalized, it’s worth reconsidering how and when we use it. Not every relationship justifies 24/7 access. Not every moment needs to be tracked. And not every app needs to operate on an always-on model.

For many people, on-demand sharing offers a more balanced and respectful approach—one that supports safety and coordination without compromising boundaries. Whether it's through apps like Google Maps, Glympse, Messenger, or newer solutions focused on flexible sharing, the key is finding a tool that aligns with how you want to stay connected.