Glympse launches Android-only Glympse Express for quick location sharing

Time-limited location sharing app Glympse is releasing a new Android-only app called Glympse Express that makes it even easier to share your location with friends and family. You can think of Glympse Express as a simplified and cleaned-up version of the full-featured Glympse app, making sharing your location with a set of favorite contacts or apps a two tap affair.

With Glympse Express you simply set up a set of favorite contacts or apps that you want to share with frequently, and then the next time you want to share your location you can do so in a snap. Just open the app, choose which person or app to send to, set the timer and Glympse sends a unique link to track your location for that period of time.

No more setting things up manually each and every time, and no extra taps if you're wanting to share out a Glympse location tracker to another app like Twitter or Facebook. Users on the other end that see the link can view it in any web browser — mobile or desktop — just like before.

GLYMPSE LAUNCHES GLYMPSE EXPRESS FOR INSTANT LOCATION SHARING ON ANDROID

Users Can Now Add Glympse Location into Any App or Service

SEATTLE – October 9, 2014 – Glympse, the world's leading location sharing technology company, today announced the availability of Glympse Express, a streamlined, Android-only version of the company's flagship app. This latest addition to the Glympse suite of applications allows users to share their location with any contact, app or service in an instant.

Glympse Express creates a seamless experience for users looking to insert location into a third-party application, essentially putting Glympse directly within the app or service. Users have the flexibility of sharing their location within their preferred communication method – whether it's to a friend, social media site or WhatsApp or Google Hangouts message – with just one tap. The latest app was developed in part feedback from users who wanted a way to shortcut the features the original Glympse offers to make it easy to share with a few selected contacts and apps.

"Our goal is to make real-time, temporary location sharing as simple as sending a text message or making a phone call," said Darren Austen, vice president of product, Glympse. "We are continually investing in new features and technologies to make location technology pervasive, and our latest app takes us one step closer to our goal. Never before has answering the question "where are you?" been so easy."

To use Glympse Express, users set up a pre-set list of contacts, apps or services as "Favorites." From there, they simply tap the icon they would like to share location with, adjust the timer for the length they want their location visible, and Glympse instantly shares a link to a real-time, dynamic Glympse map. When the timer on the Glympse expires, the user's location is no longer visible. Recipients can open the Glympse in any mobile or web browser to view a dynamic map of the sender's whereabouts.

In addition to the company's suite of applications on iOS, Android and Windows Phone, the company has also partnered with a number of top-tier global organizations to provide location sharing. This includes wearable technology (Samsung, Pebble, Android Wear), connected cars (BMW/MINI, Ford, GM, Jaguar LandRover, Mercedes, Volkswagen and Volvo), automotive hardware (Mojio), messaging services (Blackberry, Verizon, ChatOn, Kik), and others (Gogo inflight, Garmin, NAVIGON).

Andrew Martonik

Andrew was an Executive Editor, U.S. at Android Central between 2012 and 2020.