Beyond Google Maps location sharing: a private group with safety built in
Google Maps lets you share your real-time location with the people you pick, on Android and iPhone, for a set time or until you turn it off. Orbily shares it with a private group — an orbit — and puts what the group needs beside the map: an SOS to everyone at once, check-ins, arrival alerts, safety boundaries both people agree to, a chat and a shared plan.
Join the beta| Feature | Orbily | Google Maps |
|---|---|---|
| Android and iPhone | Yes: Yes. | Yes: Yes.1 |
| Sharing that ends by itself | Yes: Share live, or on a timer from 15 minutes to 4 hours, until an evening time or until midnight. | Yes: Share for a time you choose, or until you turn it off.1 |
| Battery shown | Yes: Yes, while you share. | Yes: Yes, with whether the phone is charging.1 |
| SOS, check-ins and arrival alerts | Yes: All three, and SOS and check-ins are free on every plan. | No: Not part of Google Maps location sharing.1 |
| Chat and a shared plan | Yes: Each orbit has its own chat and calendar. | No: Not part of Google Maps location sharing.1 |
Where Google Maps is ahead
- It is already on most phones, and it navigates: directions are one tap away.
- Sharing with one person takes a moment, with no group to set up.
Why use a group instead of sharing with people one by one?
Because a family or a trip is a group. In Orbily, everyone in an orbit sees the same map, the same plan and the same chat, and an SOS or a check-in reaches all of them at once. Everyone can see who can see them.
Can I share my location for just one evening?
Yes. Share on a timer — 15 or 30 minutes, 1, 2 or 4 hours, until an evening time or until midnight — and sharing stops by itself. For a whole weekend, make a temporary orbit that ends when the trip does.
More questions about Orbily and Google Maps
Yes. An event's meeting place and your saved places have Directions, which open your phone's own maps app.
No. Orbily never sells location data, never shares it with advertisers and never uses it for ad targeting.
Sources
What this page says about Google Maps comes from Google Maps's own pages, checked on 4 October 2026. Plans and features change: if something here is out of date, tell us at info@joinorbily.app and we will correct it.