Location Share

Review by eFreeware

Keeping track of where the people you care about are is a common problem, and the solutions tend to fall into two camps: messaging someone to ask, or installing something heavier than the job requires. Location Share sits in the middle. It is a free Android app from P & L Studio in the Maps & Navigation category, and it does one thing: it lets you and another person see each other's whereabouts after you both agree to it.

The app has been installed more than 10 million times and holds a 3.7 average from 20,104 ratings, with 363 written reviews. It was released on May 31, 2023, and the most recent update arrived on September 9, 2026. Those numbers suggest a tool people try in large numbers and rate with some reservation, which is worth keeping in mind as you read the rest.

Real-time updates, but only with consent

The feature the developer leads with is real-time location updating. Once you have shared your location with a friend or family member, the app refreshes the position of the people who have shared back with you, so what you see reflects where they are now rather than where they were when the link was set up.

What matters more than the refresh itself is the condition attached to it. Both people have to agree before any location is shared. Nothing appears on your map from someone who has not agreed to share with you, and the same rule applies in the other direction. For a category where the line between staying in touch and watching someone is thin, that constraint is the whole design.

The developer reinforces the point in its own statement, describing the app as a consent-based tool rather than a spy or secret surveillance app. I take that as the developer's framing of the product's intent, and it is the right frame for judging it. This is a reciprocal arrangement between two people who both know it exists, not a way to monitor someone without their knowledge.

Following someone and getting notified

Alongside the live view, there is a following feature. You add the location of a friend or family member to your follow list, and when their position changes, the app sends you a notification. That turns the app from something you check into something that tells you when there is a reason to look.

The notification side is adjustable. The developer says you can switch the reminders off inside the app if you would rather not receive them. That is a small detail with real consequences: a steady stream of movement alerts becomes noise quickly, and being able to silence them without abandoning the location sharing itself is the difference between a tool you keep and one you uninstall.

There is also a simpler function underneath both of these. You can open the app and check your own location, which is useful when you want to confirm what you are broadcasting before anyone else sees it. It is not a headline feature, but it rounds out the picture of an app that is mostly about one exchange of information between two people.

What it asks of you

Location Share is free to download and carries ads. There are no in-app purchases, so the app is not trying to sell you a subscription on top of the advertising. The developer also states that it needs only a few permissions, mainly location and notification access, and presents that restraint as a privacy measure.

The consent requirement is the other thing to weigh. Every connection has to be agreed to by both sides, which means you cannot simply add a person and start seeing them. If the other party has not accepted, there is nothing to see. That is a deliberate limit and it shapes who the app works for: people who are willing to be seen in return.

The rating is worth a mention too. A 3.7 average across more than 20,000 ratings is not a ringing endorsement, and it suggests a sizable share of users find something about the experience wanting.

Where it fits in daily life

The clearest use is between adults who have agreed to look out for each other. A couple with different work schedules, for instance, can each see whether the other has left the office yet without sending a message that demands a reply. A parent with an older teenager who has agreed to the arrangement gets the same live view without the app pretending to be covert about it.

The follow notifications suit a different rhythm. If you want to know when someone arrives somewhere rather than tracking their whole journey, setting up a follow and muting the rest of the alerts gives you a single useful signal. The developer's decision to make those reminders optional is what makes this workable; leave them all on and the app will compete for attention with everything else on your phone.

For groups that travel together, checking your own location before sharing it is a sensible habit. It confirms the app has a fix on you and that what you are passing along is current. Anyone who has ever been shown a pin from twenty minutes ago knows why that matters.

I would expect the app to suit people who want a straightforward, reciprocal arrangement and are comfortable with ads in exchange for not paying. It is a narrow tool by design, built around one exchange between consenting people, and the developer's own framing of it as simple and consent-based is consistent with that.

A straightforward pick for mutual check-ins

Location Share does one job: it lets two people who have both agreed see where the other is, in real time, with optional alerts when someone moves. The consent requirement is not a limitation bolted on afterward; it is the point, and the developer says as much. If that is the arrangement you are looking for, the app covers it without much ceremony.

The case for installing it rests on the free price and the absence of in-app purchases. The case for caution rests on the 3.7 rating from a large pool of users and the ads that come with the free download. Neither is disqualifying, but together they suggest an app that does its job adequately rather than elegantly.

My recommendation is for people who want a simple mutual location arrangement with a friend, partner or family member who is equally willing. It is a reasonable fit for that, and I would go in expecting a functional tool rather than a polished one.