From helping people find you, to navigating to businesses and meetups with friends, here are some simple ways for you to start using what3words:
Ways to use what3words
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Learn to use the what3words app
You can use the what3words app to find, save and share precise locations easily. For you and your friends to always arrive at exactly the right place on time, simply give or ask for a 3 word address in advance.
Use what3words in other apps and more
Many apps, websites and devices accept and display 3 word addresses to make your life easier – from e-commerce websites to navigation apps and smart watches. You can view compatible products using our simple search tool.
Display a 3 word address
Thousands of people use what3words to help people find their homes and businesses more easily – displaying their 3 word address on their websites, business cards and entrances.
Get a custom made sign
Bespoke 3 word address signs are a useful and unique way of signposting your front entrance and they make great house-warming gifts too. Go to the sign shop to check out a colourful range of outdoor and indoor signs.
FAQs
Why do I need what3words when I have Google Maps?
Google Maps is a tool for navigation, public transport and for looking up POIs. what3words has a very different function – it’s an easy way to communicate exact locations, whether that’s spoken over the phone or into a car voice navigation system, or typed into a taxi app or a website checkout page.
In addition, dropping a pin on to Google Maps isn’t useful if you’d like to revisit or share that location weeks after you see it, if you need to share it with someone over a phone call, or enter it into an address field.
what3words is a really quick and simple way to find, share and save exact locations. The system converts GPS coordinates into 3 word addresses. For our own website and apps, we usually use Google Maps, which means that during a street address search on what3words, Google will point you to where it lies on its map.
Although you can’t yet enter a 3 word address directly into Google Maps, you can find a 3 word address on the what3words app or website and navigate there via Google Maps.
Why do I see different words every time I press the location button?
Even top of the range smartphones have fairly basic GPS chips. What this means is that the GPS accuracy of your current position can be imprecise, and constantly recalibrating. When your device thinks you are in a different position (even if you actually aren’t) then the 3 word address will update.
This can mean that multiple devices very close to each other might show different 3 word addresses, not because the 3 word addresses of your actual location is different but because the devices each think they are in slightly different places. Our app converts the GPS location into a 3 word address.
This can also mean that the same device gives different 3 word addresses every time you open it (even if you have not actually moved).
If your device isn’t giving you a stable current location, then try moving the map so that the pin is in exactly the position that you want on the map/satellite image, rather than relying on the device’s GPS accuracy.
From a what3words perspective, the 3 word addresses are 100% fixed in their location on the planet. This can be confusing if your device can’t make up its mind about where exactly you are located.
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