Google recently announced that it will launch the Trusted Contacts app in December 2020, which has the ability to share a person’s location in emergencies. You can no longer meet him on the Play Store.
Instead, Google offers existing users similar to Google Maps, but with less supportive features. This is not good news for Trusted Contact users, as this app allowed us to find out the location of a family member even if we could not contact him or her at all (for example, when they were unconscious or threatened). But in Google Maps everything is different. Without your direct consent, it will not share your location information with your trusted contacts.
Trusted Contacts allowed you to add trusted people to your contacts who would instantly receive information about your location in an emergency. On the other hand, contacts could be asked to check their status to see if something was wrong with them. You would respond with a message, and if you did not respond to this request, the app would automatically share your last location.
At the time when Google launched this app, they created this moving image for visuals:
Google Maps has been able to share location in real time since 2017, but now, instead of just letting a family member or loved one see our location when we are not answering the phone for a long time, we will have to keep track of the smartphone that Ask someone to let us know where we are (and we may not be able to do that if we are in danger).
It’s not news that Google has started integrating various apps and features with Google Maps, although Maps features are not as valuable and useful as a stand-alone app, and Trusted Contacts users will have to find a new app.
Google Trusted Contact will finally be discontinued in December, but until then, its users will be able to download the required information from the app. In the meantime, it’s probably best to get acquainted (gain, obtain) with present-day features of Google Maps.