"Are you nearly home?"
"Where are you picking up from today?"
"Has she left school yet?"
These are questions most families ask every single day. Location sharing within your Circle makes them unnecessary — everyone can see where household members are at a glance, without a back-and-forth of texts.
SimpliHome's location feature lets Circle members share their current location with the household, visible on a map alongside everyone else who's sharing.
#How Location Sharing Works
Each Circle member who chooses to share their location updates their position periodically from their device. Other Circle members can then view everyone's current location on a shared map.
Key things to know:
- Location sharing is opt-in — each person decides whether to share their location
- Only Circle members can see locations — your household group only
- Location updates when the app is used — the position reflects where someone was the last time the app updated their location
- You can see when a location was last updated — so you know whether you're seeing a current position or an older one
- Fully available via the mobile API — location sharing is designed primarily for the mobile app experience
#Enabling Location Sharing
Location sharing is controlled by each individual user. To share your location with your Circle:
#On the Mobile App
- Open the SimpliHome app
- Go to your Profile or Settings
- Find Location Sharing
- Toggle it On
- Grant the app permission to access your device location when prompted
Once enabled, your location will update when you open or use the app. Your Circle members will then be able to see your position on the household location map.
#Permissions You'll Be Asked For
When enabling location sharing, your device will ask for location permission. For the best experience, choose:
- "While using the app" — updates your location when the app is open
- "Always" (if you want background updates — iOS/Android will ask separately)
"While using the app" is the recommended choice for most families — it balances privacy with usefulness.
#Viewing Your Circle's Locations
To see where your Circle members are:
- Open SimpliHome
- Go to Circle → Locations or look for the Family Map feature
- A map will display showing the current location of everyone who's sharing
What you'll see:
- Each member's name and avatar pinned to their location on the map
- The time their location was last updated
- Members who aren't sharing their location won't appear on the map
#Understanding Location Timestamps
Each location pin shows when that person's location was last updated — not necessarily right now.
| "Last updated" time | What it likely means | |--------------------|---------------------| | 2 minutes ago | Person recently opened the app — location is current | | 30 minutes ago | Location reflects where they were when they last used the app | | Several hours ago | They haven't opened the app recently — location may be home or wherever they were | | No timestamp | They haven't shared their location or location sharing is off |
This is important to understand: SimpliHome location sharing is app-based, not a real-time GPS tracker that updates every 30 seconds. Think of it as knowing someone's most recent known position, rather than live tracking.
For real-time tracking, consider using a dedicated family location app alongside SimpliHome — popular options include Life360, Find My (Apple), and Google Family Sharing.
#Privacy and Control
#Who Can See Your Location?
Only other members of your Circle can see your location. This means your household — the same people who can see your shared calendar and news feed.
Relatives and Friends with lower permission levels can also see locations of those sharing, as location sharing is visible to all Circle members.
#Stopping Location Sharing
To stop sharing your location at any time:
- Go to your profile or settings in the SimpliHome app
- Toggle Location Sharing off
Your location will immediately stop appearing on the household map. Members who were viewing the map won't see a last-known position — your pin simply disappears.
#No Admin Override
The Circle Owner and Admins cannot force location sharing on for any member. Each person controls their own location sharing independently. This is by design — location sharing should always be consensual.
#Practical Uses for Household Location Sharing
#School Pickups
With multiple children at different schools and parents with different work schedules, school pickup coordination can be chaotic. Location sharing lets the person doing the pickup see where everyone is, and lets the other parent confirm the pickup has happened.
"Has she been picked up yet? I can see you're at the school now."
#Commuter Arrivals
Rather than texting "nearly home" every evening, your partner can see when you've left work and estimate your arrival. Dinner can be timed. Kids can be ready. No messages needed.
#Teenagers
The classic use case. Teenagers value their independence, but parents value knowing they're safe. A quick glance at the map to see they're at a friend's house (not somewhere they said they weren't going) provides reassurance without constant check-in calls.
Setting an expectation that location is shared in exchange for freedom is a reasonable household agreement — and SimpliHome makes it easy to enforce without confrontation.
#Elderly Relatives in Your Circle
If an elderly parent or relative is in your Circle (perhaps as a Relative or Friend member with their own login), their location can reassure you they're safe — particularly useful if they live alone or have health concerns.
#Family Days Out
When the family splits up at a theme park, beach, or event, location sharing makes it easy to find each other again without the "where are you?" text chain that never seems to work.
#Troubleshooting
"I can't see a family member's location on the map"
- They may not have enabled location sharing — each person must opt in
- Their location permissions for the app may have been denied — they should check their device settings
- They may not have opened the app recently — no app open = no location update
"My location shows the wrong place"
- Your location updates when you use the app. If you haven't opened it in several hours, your last known position will be wherever you were when you last used it
- Force-update by opening the app and navigating to the map view — this triggers a fresh location update
"Location sharing is draining my battery"
If you've enabled background location ("Always allow"), this can increase battery usage. Switching to "While using the app" reduces battery impact while still updating your location when the app is actively used.
"I don't see the location feature"
Location sharing is primarily available through the mobile app. It may have limited functionality on the web browser version. If you're using the web app and don't see a location map, check whether the feature is available in your subscription plan.
#A Note on Privacy and Family Trust
Location sharing is a sensitive feature. Used well, it reduces friction and anxiety. Used poorly, it can feel like surveillance.
Our recommended approach:
- Make location sharing optional for everyone, including teenagers
- Have an honest family conversation about why it's useful
- Frame it as mutual — all adults share too, not just children
- Use it for practical coordination, not constant monitoring
- Respect when someone turns it off
The goal is less "where are you?" anxiety, not more control. Location sharing works best in households where it's agreed on collaboratively rather than imposed.
#Summary
SimpliHome's location sharing gives your Circle a simple way to stay connected without constant texting. Each member opts in on their own device, and their location is visible to the household on a shared map.
It's particularly useful for:
- School pickup coordination
- Knowing when someone is nearly home
- Reassurance for parents of teenagers
- Keeping tabs on elderly relatives
Combine location sharing with the shared calendar, news feed, and task lists, and your whole household has a single place to stay coordinated — wherever everyone happens to be.