Google Maps lets you share your ETA via third-party apps

(Image credit: Google)

The changes to Google Maps are coming in thick and fast – from recommending places to visit to sharing smartphone battery life with friends. More recently, Google added a Commute tab to its mobile app to improve the trip planning process.

While sharing live locations has been available on the Google Maps app for both Android and iOS since last year, the ability to share your ETA with friends and family was introduced on the Android app in August this year.

That feature, Google announced today, has now been added to the iOS version. In addition, Google Map users on both platforms can also share their ETAs with contacts via third-party applications like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Line.

The feature is easy to use – once you’ve started a journey, tap the '^' menu and select “Share trip progress”, which gives you the ability share your live location, route, and ETA. This will also bring up a list of third-party apps that can be used to send your ETA to contacts, making it simpler to share your location.

The feature is available for driving, cycling and walking navigation, and will automatically stop sharing your location once your journey ends, ensuring your friends and family don’t continue stalking you.

This update – available via the Play Store and the App Store now – makes sharing your location easier by eliminating the need to manually send it via a separate text message.

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Sharmishta is TechRadar's APAC Managing Editor and loves all things photography, something she discovered while chasing monkeys in the wilds of India (she studied to be a primatologist but has since left monkey business behind). While she's happiest with a camera in her hand, she's also an avid reader and has become a passionate proponent of ereaders, having appeared on Singaporean radio to talk about the convenience of these underrated devices. When she's not testing camera kits or the latest in e-paper tablets, she's discovering the joys and foibles of smart home gizmos. She's also the Australian Managing Editor of Digital Camera World and, if that wasn't enough, she contributes to T3 and Tom's Guide, while also working on two of Future's photography print magazines Down Under.