Preliminary information
Before getting to the heart of this guide and explaining, in practice, how to know where a person is for free, let me give you some more guidance on the conditions under which this can happen.
To begin with, you must know that sharing the position must be, inevitably, absolutely consensual: there is no lawful method to trace this information without the other person being aware of it (if we exclude parental control services, which I will talk about better at the end of the tutorial), nor is it my intention to encourage you to perform such operations .
Secondly, for everything to go well, it is essential that the smartphone to be traced is turned on, connected to the Internet and with active location permissions. To verify that this last condition is true, it is necessary to go to the menu Settings> Security and location> Location di Android (the lever Use location must be on ON) or in the menu Settings> Privacy> Location Services di iPhone (the lever Location services must be on ON).
How to know where a person is via mobile for free
Having made all the necessary clarifications of the case, the time has come to move on to the work and to explain to you, in practice, how to know where a person is for free.
As you will soon discover, there are several ways you can go: use the location services built into your device or use an application that provides similar functionality. In the latter case, I will explain how to share your position, voluntarily, with other people; to get someone to share their position with you, all you have to do is ask them to perform all the steps I am about to tell you about.
Integrated localization services
The first solution you can turn to for find out where a person is via mobile for free is to use i integrated localization services in the device. To be precise, I'm talking about Find my device of Android and Where is it iOS: these systems allow, if active, to view the real-time position of a device and, if necessary, to perform some emergency operations (e.g. lock or reset) on it.
To be able to put this solution into practice, however, it is essential to be aware of the Password of the Google account configured on the Android device to be tracked or that of the Apple ID in use on the iPhone to be located.
All clear? OK, let's get started. To try to locate a smartphone Android, you can act directly from the Find my device website, or by installing the appropriate app on the Play Store: operation is practically the same. After opening the site (or app), log in with theGoogle account configured in the device to be tracked and, if necessary, select the preview of the same, by pressing on its icon: if everything went the right way, in a few moments, you should see the exact position of the device, within a map.
If, on the other hand, the one to locate is a iPhone, do this: connect to the Where's website or download the Find my iPhone app and log in withApple ID associated with the "iPhone by" to be located: if the Where is service is active and the smartphone is connected to the Internet, within a few moments its exact position should be displayed on the screen.
To learn more about using Google's Find My Device and Where's Apple, I refer you to reading my guides on how to track down an Android device and how Find My iPhone works, in which I told you about services in question in great detail.
How to know where a person is for free via WhatsApp
Among the systems you can use for know where a person is for free WhatsApp certainly figures: the famous messaging app includes, in fact, a mechanism to share one's position with friends and / or groups even in real time, allowing the latter to request it.
After downloading and appropriately configuring the app, if necessary, start it and go to the chat relating to the person with whom you want to share your location; once this is done, touch the icon depicting a clip and select the item Location from the panel displayed on the screen. If prompted, then tap the button Continue e granted access to location services, by replying affirmatively to the message that appears on the screen.
Now, to share your current location (i.e. the place where you are right now), tap the button Actual position; if, on the other hand, you want to share your movements for a continuous and well-defined time, tap the button Real-time location, touches the voice NEXTselect l 'time lapse during which to share the position (to be chosen between 15 minutes, 1 hours or 8 hours) and tap on theairplane, to start sharing your travels.
In case of second thoughts, you can cancel the sharing of the position in real time, by identifying the message sent previously in the chat and selecting the item Stop sharing which appears immediately below.
How to know where a person is for free via Messenger
Also Messenger, the Facebook messaging app available for Android (also on alternative stores) and iOS, offers the ability to share your location on the fly, both instantly and continuously.
So, after downloading the application and configuring it (you can choose to log in with a Facebook account or use it with your phone number), start a new chat with the user you want to let know your location, tap on the symbol of four circles which resides at the bottom left and selects the item Location from the panel displayed on the screen. If requested, authorizes Messenger to access the location of the device, answering affirmatively to the message that appears on the screen.
At this point, if you intend to start sharing your location continuously for 60 minutes, fai tap sul pulsating Share your current location for 60 minutes which resides below; if, on the other hand, you want to let your friend know only the place where you are at the moment, tap on the symbol of red push pin and then on the button Send a pin with the location, located at the bottom.
If necessary, you can stop the continuous sharing of the position in a very simple way: by tapping on the balloon relative to it within the conversation and pressing on the item Stop sharing located in its correspondence.
How to know where a person is for free via Telegram
If you use the open source messaging app Telegram for Android (also available on alternative stores) or iPhone, you'll be pleased to know that you can use it to share your location with other users. How? I'll explain it to you right away.
After installing and configuring the app, start a new chat with the person of your interest, tap on the symbol of clip located at the bottom and then on the icon Location which appears later. If you are asked to allow access to location services by Telegram, accepts by replying affirmatively to the warning message that appears.
At this point, if you want to let your contact know where you are, tap on the wording Submit my current location; if, on the other hand, you want to share your movements for a certain amount of time, tap the item Share current location to ..., select the time frame during which to establish the sharing (to be chosen between 15 minutes, 1 hours or 8 hours) and tap on the item Share to start it all.
In case of second thoughts, locate the message containing the sharing just started and, to stop it, tap the button Stop sharing. That's all!
How to know where a person is for free via Google Maps
Another very useful resource you can use to share (and view) a person's geographic location is Google Maps: not everyone knows, but the famous Google maps application, available for Android and iPhone, integrates a practical mechanism for sharing the position, even on a continuous basis.
To use it, after opening the application and granting it the necessary permissions to use the location services, log in with your Google account (if there is already one configured on the device, it will be offered to you among the shortcuts) and, having reached the map relative to your current position, touch the icon your avatar, located on the right, inside the upper search bar.
With that done, choose the option Location sharing from the menu that subsequently appears on the screen and tap the button New sharing, located at the bottom; finally, choose thetime lapse during which to share the position, using the appropriate menu (from 15 minutes a 3 days, or up to manual deactivation) and, finally, select the contact or l 'Whatsapp through which to share information, using the panel displayed on the screen.
Now, if the chosen contact has a Google account, they can immediately view your position in real time within the Google Maps app; otherwise, they will receive a link via SMS (or within the app you have chosen to share the information).
How to find out where someone is for free via Find friends / Where is
If you and the person to be located (or to be located) own a iPhone, you can rely on Find friends, the system made available by Apple designed, precisely, to easily share one's geographical position with one's contacts. This functionality is currently included in the system Where is it of iOS (and iPadOS).
Using it is very simple: first, start the app Where is it calling it from the iOS Home screen, tap the button Continue and, if necessary, granted access to your location by touching the appropriate button. Now, to start sharing your location, tap the button Start sharing your location, indicates the contact (or contacts) to whom you want to know your position and, through the panel that is proposed to you, indicates the time frame within which to share your travels.
Done! From this moment on, the chosen user (or chosen users) will be able to see your movements within the app Find friends, for the chosen time.
Other apps to find out where a person is for free
If the solutions I mentioned previously did not satisfy your needs or, again, if you want to know some alternative tool useful for the purpose, know that you can rely on some very specific apps, designed precisely to monitor, "from afar", some aspects of smartphones and tablets (including location).
To be precise, I'm talking about the applications of parental control or, alternatively, of the so-called anti-theft app: if properly configured, such tools allow you to control and define the activity of smartphones and tablets and, of course, to view their position in real time. Qustodio, Prey e Cerberus are just some of the apps belonging to this category: to learn more about their use, I invite you to take a look at the specific tutorial I have dedicated to the topic.
Always remember that parental control systems are specifically designed to keep track of what happens on the smartphone of your children or, in any case, of minors for whom the right of protection and / or parental authority are exercised; the anti-theft apps, on the other hand, should only be used to locate proprietary devices, if they are lost.
Therefore, you should use the solutions I mentioned to you only for lawful purposes and with the permission of the other person, otherwise you could infringe on the privacy of others and be punishable, even criminally.
How to know where a person is for free
