The time to share live location with your driver is when you are already standing at the agreed pickup point, or walking the last stretch towards it, and the driver is close. Share it for the shortest period your phone offers, send it to the right number for that journey, and stop sharing once you are in the car. A live location moves with you and shows where you actually are. A map screenshot shows where someone once pointed, and it cannot follow you across a busy street, round the corner of a hotel complex or to a different exit.
This guide is for pilgrims and the family organisers who prepare them, especially for hotel pickups in Makkah and Madinah, returns from visits and arrivals where finding each other is the hard part. It explains the difference between a pin, a screenshot and a live location, when a live location for Umrah pickup helps and when it adds nothing, how to share on an iPhone and on Android, how to protect battery, data and privacy, and what a live location cannot do. A worked example and a checklist close the guide.
Map screenshot vs live location: three different things
Families often use “location” to mean three different things. They do different jobs.
| What you send | What it shows | Updates as you move? | Best used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Map screenshot | A picture of a map, as someone saw it | No | Explaining an area in advance |
| Dropped pin or current location | One point, at the moment it was sent | No | Marking an agreed meeting point |
| Live location | Your position, updating for a set time | Yes | The final minutes before pickup |
The map screenshot vs live location difference is the one that matters most on the day. A screenshot has no link to the real place. It may be cropped, zoomed out or taken from an old pin, and it cannot be opened in the driver’s map. Apple’s help page draws the same line between its two options: a one-time pin shares only your current location as a snapshot, while Live Location lets the other person follow your position as it changes.
Our earlier guide to a hotel name and map pin that disagree deals with getting the destination right when booking. This guide is about the few minutes when a car and a family are trying to find each other.
When a live location for Umrah pickup helps
A live location for Umrah pickup earns its place when both sides know roughly where the meeting is but not the exact spot.
Hotel pickups in busy areas
Hotels near the Haram often sit in large complexes with several frontages. Where a vehicle may stop is managed on the day, and we cannot promise a particular entrance or frontage. Agree a meeting point with the driver, go there, and share your live location so the driver can see which side of the building you are on.
Returning from a visit
After prayers or a visit, crowds can move you away from the point you agreed. A live location shows the driver where you ended up, and lets you both adjust calmly.
The traveller who has moved
If a relative waiting with the bags has stepped inside out of the heat, or moved to a quieter spot, a live location avoids a confused phone call about “the other door”.
When it adds little
- At home before leaving. A live location shared hours early only drains the battery and shares far more than anyone needs.
- Inside a building. Position inside large buildings can be less precise, and the driver cannot come inside anyway. Share once you are outside.
- When nobody has agreed a meeting area. A moving dot is not a plan. Agree the area first, then share.
Who should receive it
Send the live location to the person who needs to find you for that journey, and nobody else.
- The driver, if you have a number for the driver for this journey. The account shows the driver’s name once a driver is assigned, and the driver-assigned email includes the vehicle registration and meeting or waiting instructions. Use the contact details given there.
- The organiser or second contact, if the traveller cannot manage the phone on the day. They can then relay directions by phone.
- Not a large family group chat. A live location in a group of thirty relatives shares a parent’s movements with people who do not need them. If the family wants reassurance, share with one organiser.
Before sharing with any number, check that it matches the details in your booking records. If a message arrives from an unknown number claiming to be your driver, compare it with the account before sending anything.
Our guide to which phone number to give for an Umrah pickup explains how to set up the numbers in the booking so the right phone is in the right hands.
How to share live location with your driver on an iPhone
Apple’s support page on sharing your location with iPhone, linked above, describes two routes.
From Messages
Open the conversation, tap the plus button, then Location. You can send a pin, which shares your current position once, or share your live location so the other person can follow it. Apple also describes an option to tap the person’s name at the top of the conversation and choose Share My Location.
From Find My
In the Find My app, the Me tab has a Share My Location setting, and the People tab lets you add a person and share with them. Apple describes the duration choices as for an hour, until the end of the day, or indefinitely.
For a pickup, choose one hour. It covers the final approach and the loading of bags, and ends on its own if you forget.
Stopping on an iPhone
Apple’s page explains how to stop sharing with one person from Find My (People tab, choose the person, Stop Sharing My Location) or from Messages (tap the name at the top, then Stop Sharing), and how to turn off Share My Location for everyone from the Me tab.
How to share live location with your driver on Android
Google’s help page on sharing your real-time location in Google Maps sets out the steps. Open Google Maps, check you are signed in to your Google Account, tap your profile picture, then Location sharing and New share. Choose how long to share, pick a contact or search by name, phone or email, and tap Share.
Two details from Google’s page matter for a pickup:
- A link for people without the app set up. Google notes that the recipient of a direct share must have a Gmail account, but you can copy a link to paste into a message instead, and that people with the link can see your real-time location for up to 24 hours. Choose a short duration when you create it.
- What the other person sees. Google lists your name and photo, your device’s recent location, and your battery level and whether the phone is charging. For a pickup, the battery level is useful to the organiser; it shows when a phone is about to die.
To stop, open Location sharing, tap the person’s profile and choose Stop.
Messaging apps
Many messaging apps also offer a live location option inside a chat. The steps and duration choices vary between apps and versions, so follow that app’s own help pages and practise before you travel. The same rules apply whatever the app: share with one person, for a short time, from the pickup point, and stop afterwards.
Share from the pickup point, not the room
The most common mistake is sharing too early and from the wrong place. A dot sitting inside a hotel tower tells the driver very little. A dot on the pavement at the agreed spot tells them everything.
A sequence that works:
- Agree the meeting area with the driver or through the booking notes beforehand.
- Take the lift down with the bags and go outside to that area.
- Start sharing, for one hour at most.
- Send a short text alongside: “We are outside, two people, four cases, grey suitcases.”
- Watch for the vehicle registration from the driver-assigned email.
- Once you are in the car, stop sharing.
The short text matters. A live location tells the driver where you are, not who you are. A description of the group and the bags does that.
Battery and data
A live location needs a working phone with mobile data. That is easy to take for granted and easy to lose on a long travel day.
- Charge before you go down. A long flight or a day of visits can leave a phone nearly flat at exactly the moment it is needed.
- Carry a power bank, charged, in the day bag rather than in a suitcase. Our guide to the bag that stays with the traveller covers what else belongs there.
- Check data works in Saudi Arabia before relying on it, whether through roaming, a Saudi SIM or an eSIM. Test it on arrival, not at the pickup.
- Close apps you do not need. Leaving navigation, video and live location running together drains a battery quickly.
- Keep a paper backup. The hotel name, address and booking reference on paper still work when the phone does not. Our guide to keeping Umrah travel details offline explains what to print.
If the phone dies, go back to the agreed meeting point and stay there. A driver looking for you will return to the agreed place before anywhere else.
Privacy: share briefly and stop afterwards
A live location is personal information. It shows where someone is, in real time, and sometimes their battery level. Treat it as you would a front-door key.
- Choose the shortest duration. One hour is enough for any pickup.
- Stop sharing once you are in the car, even if the timer has not run out.
- Do not post live location links in public groups or on social media.
- Check who still has access after the trip. Both Apple and Google show a list of people you are sharing with.
- Do not share because a stranger asks. If someone you cannot match to your booking asks for your location, decline and check with the booking team.
For an elderly parent, the organiser may prefer to hold the sharing on their own phone while travelling with them. That keeps the parent’s phone simple and the organiser in control.
What a live location cannot do
A live location is a finding tool. It is not a booking and it is not a promise.
- It does not change the pickup place. If the family has moved to another hotel or wants to be collected somewhere else entirely, that is a destination change. The pickup place cannot be changed online; contact the booking team.
- It does not decide where a car may stop. Stopping rules near the Haram and at hotel frontages are managed on the day. The driver may ask you to walk to a place where a car can stop.
- It does not replace the meeting area. The agreed area comes first; the live location fine-tunes it.
- It does not change the time. A new pickup time must be requested in the account. An approved change carries a £5 rescheduling fee, converted into the booking currency and added to the cash paid to the driver at pickup; a rejected request costs nothing.
At the airport: later than you think
At an airport, the temptation is to share live location with your driver the moment the plane lands. It helps far less than it seems. Immigration, baggage reclaim and customs all happen inside the terminal, where a moving dot means nothing to someone outside, and a share started on landing may run out before you reach the kerb.
A better order:
- Make sure the flight number was entered at checkout, so the journey is linked to your flight.
- On landing, switch on mobile data and send a short message: “Landed, now at immigration.”
- Collect the bags and walk out to the area agreed for the meeting.
- Only then share your live location, for one hour at most, with a line describing the group.
This keeps the share short, keeps the battery for the moment that matters, and gives the driver a position that is actually useful. If the family is large, one person shares; several dots from one group confuse more than they help.
Helping from home
Organisers in the UK can play a useful part without sharing anything themselves. If the traveller shares with the organiser, the organiser can watch the dot on a call and describe it to the driver in plain words: “They are on the left of the main doors, next to the taxi sign.” That is often easier for an elderly parent than managing two apps at once.
Keep the roles clear. The traveller shares; the organiser watches and relays; the driver drives. Our guide to writing one final pickup message for the family chat shows how to set out who does what before the day, and our note on reading pickup details back explains how to check the plan on a call.
When the traveller does not use a smartphone
Some parents do not use smartphones, or prefer not to on the day. Live location is not essential. A clear meeting point, a basic phone that takes calls and a relative who can talk the driver in work well.
In that case, the organiser at home keeps the booking open, the traveller waits at the agreed spot, and the driver calls the number in the booking. Our guide to an airport pickup for a pilgrim without a smartphone sets out a paper-first plan.
Worked example: Sana and her father at the hotel
Sana Mirza in Luton has booked a pickup from her parents’ Makkah hotel to Madinah. Her father, Rashid, uses an Android phone; her mother does not use a smartphone.
The day before, Sana checks the account. The status reads Confirmed and the driver’s name is showing. The driver-assigned email gives the vehicle registration and meeting instructions. She adds the registration to the printed sheet.
On the morning, Rashid takes the bags down with a porter and goes outside to the agreed side of the hotel. Only then does he open Google Maps, start a new share for one hour and send the link to Sana, who is on a video call with her mother. Rashid also sends a short message to the driver’s contact number from the booking records: “Outside, two people, three large cases, one wheelchair.”
The crowd moves them a little along the pavement. Sana watches the dot and tells her father to stay where he is. The car arrives; Rashid checks the registration against the sheet before the bags go in. Once they are moving, Sana reminds him to stop sharing, and he does it from the Location sharing screen.
Checklist: share live location with your driver
- Agree the meeting area in advance; live location refines it, it does not replace it.
- Check the driver’s name and vehicle registration in the account and the driver-assigned email.
- Charge the phone, pack a power bank and confirm mobile data works in Saudi Arabia.
- Practise sharing and stopping on the traveller’s phone before the trip.
- Go outside to the agreed point before sharing.
- Share with one person only, for one hour at most.
- Send a short text describing the group and the bags.
- Check the registration before loading bags.
- Stop sharing once you are in the car.
- Put any change of place or time through the account or the booking team, never through the map.
A good meeting plan plus a short live location makes most pickups easy. Open the Pilgrim Taxi ride finder to book the journey, then agree the meeting area and share your location only when you are standing there.