Here is how to share live location on WhatsApp during a journey in Pakistan: open the chat with the person who should follow you, tap the attachment icon, choose Location, then Share live location, pick a duration and send. On iPhone the path is the same inside the chat; the only difference is that WhatsApp may ask you to allow location access first. When you arrive, open the same chat and tap Stop sharing. That is the whole mechanism.
The part most guides skip is the boundary. A live location feed is a moving record of where you are, and on a long drive it can run for hours. The sensible default for a traveller is narrow: one or two trusted family members, for the length of the journey only, switched off the moment you are through the door. Your driver needs a pickup pin, not your live whereabouts for the afternoon. Your booking desk needs a booking reference. Everything below is about applying that rule without friction.
The decision in brief
- Who gets it: a named family member or a small family group. Not the driver, not a broad WhatsApp group, not a stranger who asked for your “location” to find you.
- How long: the shortest preset that covers the leg you are on. If the trip outlasts it, restart the share at a rest stop rather than choosing the longest window by habit.
- Which tool: WhatsApp live location for a one-off journey with people already in your chats; Google Maps location sharing or its “Share trip progress” option when the watcher wants an arrival estimate, or when you are navigating anyway.
- How it ends: stop it yourself on arrival, then check the privacy menu that lists every active share.
How to share live location on WhatsApp: Android and iPhone
WhatsApp’s own Help Center describes live location as a way to share “your real-time location with the members of an individual or group chat”, for a period you choose, which you can stop at any time. According to the WhatsApp Help Center guide to live location, the steps are almost identical on both platforms. What differs is the location permission.
Step 1: give WhatsApp location permission
Android: open your phone’s Settings, go to Apps, tap WhatsApp, then Permissions and Location. You will see “Allow only while using the app”, “Ask every time” and “Don’t allow”. WhatsApp’s separate page on location features says that “While Using The App” or “Only this time” access is what live location needs, and that choosing Deny means your location is not shared.
iPhone: go to Settings, then Privacy & Security, Location Services, WhatsApp. WhatsApp’s iPhone instructions point you to the Always option here. If you are uncomfortable leaving WhatsApp on Always for the rest of your trip, set it back once the journey is done; the Help Center notes you can switch WhatsApp to Never at any time from the same screen.
Step 2: start the share from the right chat
- Open the individual chat (or the small family group) that should follow the journey.
- Tap the attachment icon, then Location, then Share live location.
- Tap Continue (Android) or OK (iPhone) if WhatsApp prompts you.
- Choose how long to share. WhatsApp stops the share automatically when that time runs out.
- Add a short comment if it helps, for example “Leaving the hotel now, will stop this when I’m home”, then tap send.
Step 3: know what the other person sees
While the share is running, the recipient sees your position update on a map in the chat. After it stops or expires, WhatsApp says the recipient will “continue to see the location you shared as a static thumbnail image” and can tap it to see your last updated point. In other words, the last place you were when sharing ended stays visible in that chat. That is one more reason to end the share at your destination rather than at a service station on the way.
On encryption, WhatsApp is explicit: shared location is end-to-end encrypted, and “We can’t see your shared location and neither can Meta”. The people in the chat can, which is exactly why the choice of chat matters more than the technology.
Choosing the duration: short, medium or long
WhatsApp gives you a small menu of preset windows rather than a free timer, and the Help Center simply says to “select the length of time you’d like to share”. Read the options on your own screen, because apps change. The logic for choosing between them does not change.
| Journey type | Window to pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Airport pickup to a home in the same city | The shortest preset that covers the drive | The only question family has is “has she left the airport and is she nearly here?” |
| Cross-city ride after dark, or a first ride with a new operator | A short or medium window | Covers the ride plus a margin for traffic; ends on its own if you forget |
| Intercity motorway drive of several hours | The longest preset, or a medium one restarted at each stop | Restarting at stops gives the watcher a natural check-in and stops an unattended feed running after arrival |
| A full driver day with several stops | Leg by leg, not all day | An all-day feed tells more people more than they need about your movements |
The trap is choosing the longest option every time “to be safe”. A long window is fine for a long drive. For a twenty-minute hop it simply means your position keeps broadcasting for hours after you have sat down to eat.
Who should get your live location: family, driver or booking desk
This is where the privacy boundary sits, and it is the section most worth reading twice.
Family: yes, but name them
The right recipient is a person who will actually look, knows your plan and will act if something seems off: a parent, a spouse, the sibling collecting you. A small group created for one trip works well for a family moving in two cars. Our sister service Pakistan Taxi has a practical walkthrough on arranging an airport pickup for parents while you are abroad, which is the classic case: the watcher is in Birmingham or Dubai, the traveller is on the road from the airport, and a live dot saves a dozen anxious messages.
Avoid sharing into a big extended-family or community group. Live location in a group is visible to every member of that group, and the UK Information Commissioner’s Office puts the general principle plainly in its advice on social networking and privacy: do not make too much personal information available to lots of people, and set privacy controls so family information reaches only those you know well.
Driver: usually no
A driver needs to find you once. For that, send a single current location pin or a clear written meeting point (terminal, door number, car park level, a landmark). WhatsApp distinguishes the two: current location shares one precise point or a nearby place, while live location keeps updating for the window you chose. A driver does not need the continuous version, and once you are in the car there is nothing left for it to do.
If you do use live location to help a driver find you in a confusing spot, pick the shortest window and stop it as soon as you are seated. Our sister company Pilgrim Taxi covers this exact situation for Saudi travellers in its guide to when to share live location with your driver on an Umrah trip; the same caution about ending the share applies in Lahore as it does in Makkah.
Booking desk or operator: give them a reference, not a feed
A booking desk works from the booking: pickup point, time, flight number, passenger name and phone number. If you need help mid-journey, quote your booking reference and describe where you are. A reputable operator should not ask you to leave live location running to their staff. If you want to know what journey data iDrive may process during an active booking, and why, the iDrive privacy policy sets out the categories and the lawful basis.
Google Maps location sharing as the alternative
Google Maps location sharing does a slightly different job, and for some families it is the better tool. The Google Maps Help page on sharing your real-time location sets out two options.
Option A: a timed location share
- Open Google Maps and make sure you are signed in to your Google Account.
- Tap your profile picture or initial, then Location sharing, then New share.
- Choose how long to share.
- Pick the person (Google says they should be in your Google Contacts), allow contact access if asked, and tap Share.
People you share with this way can see your name and photo, your device’s recent location even when Google apps are not in use, your battery level and whether the phone is charging. If they set up a notification, they can also see arrival and departure times. That battery detail is genuinely useful on a long drive: a parent who sees 8% knows why you have gone quiet.
Option B: share trip progress while navigating
If you, or the person driving, are navigating with Google Maps, you can set a destination, start navigation, swipe up on the information card and tap Share trip progress. Google says this shares your destination, estimated arrival time and current location, and that the share ends when you reach the destination or stop navigation. For a single journey that is the tidiest arrangement there is: the ETA is what family actually wants, and the share closes itself on arrival.
The catch in a hired car is that the driver’s phone runs the navigation, not yours. You can still start navigation on your own phone to the same destination and share progress from it, as long as it has signal and battery.
WhatsApp or Google Maps?
| Question | WhatsApp live location | Google Maps location sharing |
|---|---|---|
| Does the watcher need an account? | They need to be in the WhatsApp chat | Google asks for the person in your Google Contacts; people without a Google Account can be sent a link, which Google says works for up to 24 hours |
| Shows arrival estimate? | Not described by WhatsApp; the watcher sees a moving position | Yes, with Share trip progress during navigation |
| Shows battery? | Not described by WhatsApp | Yes, battery level and charging status |
| Ends by itself? | When the chosen window expires | When the chosen period ends, or on arrival for trip progress |
| Leaves a trace afterwards? | A static thumbnail of your last shared point stays in the chat | Confirm the end yourself in the Location sharing list in Maps |
| Best for | Quick shares with family already in your chats | Longer drives where ETA and battery matter |
How to stop sharing live location on WhatsApp, and check it has stopped
Ending the share is the step people forget, usually because arrival comes with hugs, luggage and tea. Build it into your arrival routine the way you would check you have your passport.
Stop it in the chat
- Android: open the chat and tap Stop sharing, then Stop.
- iPhone: open the chat and tap Stop sharing, then Stop sharing again to confirm.
Check every chat at once
If you shared into more than one chat, or cannot remember, use the master list. On Android, from the Chats tab tap the menu, then Settings, Privacy, Live location. On iPhone, tap Settings or your profile picture, then Privacy, Live location. Tap Stop sharing and confirm, and WhatsApp ends live location in every individual and group chat in one go. It is the quickest way to be certain nothing is still running.
Stopping Google Maps sharing
In Google Maps, tap your profile picture, then Location sharing, tap the person and tap Stop. For trip progress, swipe up on the navigation card and tap Stop sharing, or simply arrive: Google ends it when you reach the destination. For a belt-and-braces check, Google’s Location Sharing settings page explains how to review everyone you share with from myaccount.google.com under People & sharing, and on Android how to pause Location Sharing from the phone’s own location settings.
Data use and battery on a long intercity drive
A live share only works while your phone has a data connection and power. On a long drive in Pakistan, both can run short, so plan for them rather than trusting the dot.
Connectivity
- Expect gaps. Coverage is rarely continuous over several hundred kilometres, and it can drop out in hills and between towns. When the feed freezes, the recipient sees your last updated point, which may be many kilometres behind you. Tell family in advance that a frozen dot usually means a signal gap, not a problem.
- Know about shutdowns. The UK Foreign Office’s Pakistan safety and security advice warns that during protests or civil unrest, mobile data and internet connectivity “may be cut without warning”. On those days live location will not work at all, so agree a fallback such as a text or call at set points.
Battery
- Continuous location plus mobile data is a steady drain over several hours. Carry a charged power bank and a cable that fits the car’s socket, and ask about charging when you book.
- If battery gets low, stop the long share and send a single current-location pin at each stop instead. Your family gets a clear update and your phone keeps enough charge for calls on arrival.
- Google Maps sharing shows the recipient your battery level, which avoids a false alarm if your phone dies near the end of the trip.
Location privacy for travellers: the wider rules
Live location is a safety tool, but it is still personal data, and the same good habits apply whether you are a British Pakistani visiting family in Sialkot or a business traveller on the Lahore-Islamabad run.
- Share trip with family, not with the internet. Do not post live or near-live location on public social media during a trip. A photo tagged at the hotel an hour after you check in says as much as a map.
- Keep the audience small and named. Every extra person in the chat is another phone that can be lost, borrowed or left unlocked.
- Use a window, not an open door. Timed shares end on their own. Open-ended sharing tends to outlive the reason for it.
- Remember the thumbnail. The last shared point stays visible in the WhatsApp chat after the share ends. If that point is your family’s home address, keep the chat to family.
- Review app permissions after the trip. Travel is when people grant “Always” access in a hurry. Undo it at home.
What live location does not replace
A moving dot is reassurance, not protection. The UK Foreign Office’s Pakistan travel advice is worth reading before any road journey. In the version updated on 22 September 2026 it advises against all travel to several areas, including all of Balochistan, a number of districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Peshawar, the Karakoram Highway between Mansehra and Chilas, and areas close to the Afghanistan border and the Line of Control, and against all but essential travel to others. Sharing your location does not make a journey into those areas advisable; check the current advice rather than relying on this summary.
The FCDO’s safety page also tells travellers to avoid street taxis, e-taxis and online taxi apps, and to use reputable, licensed companies where you call and the operator contacts the driver. Pre-booking with a named operator, a confirmed pickup point and a family member watching your live location for the ride is a sensible combination; none of the three is enough on its own.
Booking the journey itself
For the car, iDrive handles airport transfers across Pakistan and city-to-city journeys. You can send a journey request through iDrive’s booking page or the iDrive app; a request is confirmed once a suitable vehicle and driver are available, and the quote you see at request stage is not a guarantee until then. Whichever way you book, the location boundary is yours to set: pickup details for the driver, a booking reference for the desk, and live location only for the people waiting for you.
Questions people ask
Can the driver see my WhatsApp live location if I share it with my family?
No. WhatsApp says shared location is end-to-end encrypted and visible only to the people in the chat you shared it with. The driver sees it only if they are in that chat.
What happens when my live location expires?
Sharing stops automatically at the end of the window you chose. The recipient still sees a static thumbnail of your last updated point in the chat.
How do I stop sharing live location on WhatsApp in every chat at once?
On Android go to Settings > Privacy > Live location; on iPhone tap Settings or your profile picture, then Privacy > Live location. Tap Stop sharing and confirm.
Is Google Maps location sharing better for a long drive?
Often, yes. It can show the watcher your battery level and, with Share trip progress during navigation, your estimated arrival time, and trip progress ends when you arrive.
Will live location work if the mobile network goes down?
No. It needs a data connection. The FCDO warns that mobile data can be cut without warning during unrest, so agree a call or text fallback with family.
