The simplest way to talk about location
Street addresses aren’t accurate enough to specify precise locations, such as building entrances, and don’t exist for parks and many rural areas.
This makes it hard to find places and prevents people from describing exactly where help is needed in an emergency.
That’s why we created what3words.
We divided the world into 3 metre
squares and gave each square a
unique combination of three words.
It’s the easiest way to find and share
exact locations.
Millions of people around the world
use what3words to make life safer,
more efficient and less frustrating.
Thousands of businesses use what3words to
improve efficiencies and customer experience
– from e-commerce and logistics companies to
travel, ride-hailing and navigation apps.
We’re providing the location precision and
simplicity needed by drones, voice-controlled
devices and driverless cars.
Around the world, emergency services
and NGOs are using what3words to
find and help people in need.
What are people saying
what3words does not aim to replace street addressing. Rather, it is a useful addition when street addresses are not accurate enough, and an instant, scalable solution where addresses do not exist.
Compared to current street addressing systems, 3 word addresses are far more accurate, as they refer to a specific 3m x 3m area. As the entire what3words grid is fixed, the 3 word address for a particular location will never change even if buildings or streets are redeveloped.
3 word addresses are unique, unlike street names which are often duplicated, and they are easier to communicate and share with others.
what3words is much faster to set up and more cost-efficient than any regular street addressing system, as every 3 word address has already been pre-assigned, providing an instant, scalable solution.
what3words is the only addressing system optimised for voice, making it the ideal location system for the voice-enabled solutions of the future.
what3words AutoSuggest prompts intelligent suggestions based on the user’s location, making it a truly human friendly solution.
To make what3words precise enough to refer to an entrance or parking spot, it needed to be accurate to a 3m square. This meant we needed 57 trillion addresses to cover the world, and three words allowed us to create 64 trillion addresses – covering the entire world with quite a few spare! If we’d used only two words, we’d only have had enough for 1.6 billion squares.
If you’re on a desktop computer, you can install an extension for Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox that allows you to type a what3words address into the Google Maps search bar directly. See instructions here.
On a smartphone, simply enter the what3words address into the free what3words app, then tap ‘Navigate’ and select ‘Google Maps’ to open the location in Google Maps.
Without phone signal, the app functions the same as when you have no data connection: you can view the location of any what3words address you enter. You can also navigate to it using compass mode.
To share a what3words address over the phone or in a text message you need phone signal. To load maps, or share in other apps or social media, you need a data connection.
Watch our CEO Chris explain how what3words works offline here.
