What an incredibly simple idea - an app that lets you tell someone where you are to within a few metres

[chomalungma]

Who needs latitude and longitude when you have 3 words? Those 3 words can let the police know your exact location. Love it.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-49319760

If you've got no reception, how does the app know where you are

Same way your phone knows where it is without mobile reception. I think phones can do that.

Then if I pass those words on to someone else, do they just enter them into the app and find the location? And there's no charge, you just both have to have the app

Correct

Same way your phone knows where it is without mobile reception. I think phones can do that.

Does it? I thought if you had no reception your phone didn't know where it was on Google maps? How can it know, if its not giving off or receiving any signal?

Am I like, 10 years behind in phone technology? 😂

@HollowTalk - yup! It ties in with Google Maps so they can get exact directions to you or vice versa.

Does it? I thought if you had no reception your phone didn't know where it was on Google maps? How can it know, if its not giving off or receiving any signal

DS and I have had this conversation.

www.smartertravel.com/use-phone-gps-without-data/

Can you? I am sure there are many people who struggle with that but could easily give 3 words

But the problem is getting the 3 words, it's more complicated than clicking the "send location" directly in the thing you're communicating with, and it's much more complicated for the receiver, rather than a map popping up showing them, they have to open a completely different app and enter 3 words, spelling them correctly etc. and only then get the map. It's more complicated.

But the problem is getting the 3 words

It's not that complicated.

it's more complicated than clicking the "send location" directly in the thing you're communicating with

I don't know where the send location thing is on my phone. If I am lost without a pen and paper, I might struggle to write down the number to send it to. Whereas I can tell the emergency services 3 words.

Job done.

Still, you don't need to get it if you don't want to.

You don't need to share a location with google apps - create new text message - add location - it doesn't get shared with google maps, or indeed anyone outside the phone.

Whereas 3 words specifically do share your location with google analytics and google firebase, and then again with google maps in the app - their privacy policy is actually quite in saying that they do this, but it doesn't exactly mean that it's somehow more private to involve them than just using the sms functionality of your phone.

It's not actually very accurate though,

I've just tried three different postcodes and it's marked them as being anything from 10-100m away!

chomalungma Thanks, you learn something new every day!

Yes, how is this better than the 'send location' function on Google Maps? I'm kind of confused! I've downloaded it though obvs

Oh right, yep, can see how that would be better than 'send location' I guess?

I love it, some of the three words are just hysterical....dd's bf's house has one that implies his mother is not a good cook

@MsMightyTitanAndHerTroubadours

Just looked at ours. It is to do with a missing organ. OH had his kidney out last year 😂

V clever. I like the words thing because I like words.

How does it work at festivals when both lost parties have no signal?

Please read the link Cruella posted before blindly advocating this... if you've read it and you're still happy, fine, but read it first.

How does it work at festivals when both lost parties have no signal?

It's quite unusual these days not to have signal at a festival isn't it? I don't know, I havent been to one for a long time!

It wouldn't work without reception unless you were ringing the emergency services anyway would it, because you would need the reception to tell the other person your 3 words.

I dunno, I had no signal at pride last year, I just assumed it was because there were so many people there.

I've just tried three different postcodes and it's marked them as being anything from 10-100m away

Postcodes are different though - this is accurate to a few square metres. Postcodes cover a wider area. So where should it pick?

Please read the link Cruella posted before blindly advocating this... if you've read it and you're still happy, fine, but read it first

I've read it - I can't see any problems. Can you?

Please read the link Cruella posted before blindly advocating this... if you've read it and you're still happy, fine, but read it first

I’ve read it. Their main gripe appears to be that it’s not open source and they are trying to monetise it. I expect the blog author doesn’t work for free...

The guy is getting some Mumsnet traffic on his blog!

Funnily enough I downloaded this today