You can access the Locate Link directly in the app menu, or copy and save this link: locate.what3words.com
Useful for people who struggle with technology
With a click of the link, the recipient’s current what3words address is displayed on their screen, allowing them to easily share their exact location by copying the words into a message, or speaking them over the phone.
Easily find out exactly where they are
If someone you care for ever gets lost or can’t describe where they are, the Locate Link is here to help. Useful for parents and carers, it provides a very accurate location so the recipient can be located quickly.
Works in areas with poor data connection
The web page has been designed to have a low data requirement of just 25KB, so it should load even in places where you don’t have much data available.
In the what3words app, open the menu via the icon to the top left of your screen, then tap ‘Share Locate Link’. You can then send the link using a messaging app of your choosing. Alternatively, you can copy the link locate.what3words.com and paste it in your message.
For the Locate Link to work, the phone will need to have location settings turned on for the browser being used e.g. Chrome or Safari. This will enable the link to use their phone’s GPS signal to find their precise location.
You can check this on a device by opening the Locate Link: if the what3words address is showing then the location settings are switched on. No further action is needed.
If you get a prompt to say ‘Allow location services’, select ‘Allow’.
If no prompt appears automatically, and the what3words address isn’t showing, then go to the phone’s location settings, and allow location services for that browser.
The Locate Link is simply a URL that doesn’t require anyone to download anything. All it needs is for them to have data or Wi-Fi to be able to open the link in their device’s browser. It’s particularly useful for people that might struggle to download or use an app.
If the person you’re trying to locate doesn’t have data or wifi, the Locate Link won’t be able to work. However, the web page is incredibly data light and only needs around 25kb to open. Having just a small amount of data should be enough to load the page.
Yes, you can share the Locate Link from the menu of the app.
Yes! To bookmark the Locate Link on your smartphone using Chrome:
1. Open the Locate Link in Chrome
2. Tap the three dots
3. Tap the Star to bookmark the page
To bookmark on your Smartphone using Safari:
1. Open the Locate Link in Safari
2. Tap on the Share icon
3. Scroll down and tap Add Bookmark