We’ve redesigned and renamed our popular AllTrails+ feature — introducing Live Share! With Live Share, you can share your planned route and real-time location with friends, giving you peace of mind while out on the trail. This article will help you get set up with Live Share and answer common questions about this feature.
How do I set up Live Share?
Live Share is built within our Navigator tool in the AllTrails app. Follow the below steps to get started with Live Share as an AllTrails+ member:
- Open the AllTrails app
- Tap on ‘Navigate’ on the bottom navigation bar
- Tap the ‘Live Share’ button
- Select which app and contacts you would like to share with, or copy your personal link and send it to your desired contacts
- You’ll notice a flashing green beacon at the bottom right of your screen indicating that Live Share is currently active
- If you’d like to add your estimated end time, tap the green beacon and select the date and time
- Your location will only be shared once you start recording your activity
Who can see my location with Live Share?
Anyone with your unique Live Share URL will be able to view your real-time location and activity stats while you are actively recording on AllTrails. You can choose who you want to share this URL with. When you end your activity or manually turn off Live Share, your unique URL will automatically expire. A new unique URL will be generated each time you use Live Share, so you must send a new link to your contacts for each outing.
What can my safety contacts see when viewing my Live Share link?
When you share your Live Share link with your safety contacts, they’ll be able to opt-in to receiving SMS updates about your progress and view a map with the following information:
- Your real-time location
- Your planned trail route if you’ve loaded one into Navigator
- Your recorded mileage, pace, and time elapsed
- Your estimated end time if you’ve added one
- Safety information, including coordinate info and mobile signal strength*
- They’ll also be able to cheer you on while you’re on the trail!
How do I stop sharing my location?
If you finish your activity, you’ll automatically end Live Share and end your activity recording. If you’d like to stop sharing your location while still recording, you can also turn off Live Share by following these steps:
- Open Navigator on the AllTrails app
- Tap the green beacon at the bottom right corner of your screen
- Tap ‘Turn off Live Share’
- Tap ‘Turn off’ to confirm
- Once disabled, you’ll notice the beacon will stop flashing and your location will no longer be visible to anyone you’ve shared the link with.
What happens if I forget to turn off Live Share?
We always want our community members to be safe on the trail. Once activated, Live Share will continue to run until you turn it off or finish your activity.
Additional Information
Does Live Share require a data connection to use?
A data connection is required to set up and use Live Share. The ability to transmit your real-time location details relies on a data connection to share this information with your contacts. If you lose mobile signal while on the trail, your safety contacts will be warned of spotty connectivity on your end. They will be able to view your last recorded location and coordinates, and they can also opt to be notified via text when you come back online.
Is my real-time location data secure?
We care about the privacy and security of your data. We start tracking your real-time location only after you activate Live Share and tap Start. While you’re using Live Share, people who have your Live Share link can see your real-time location. This includes anyone you choose to share it with directly and anyone they share it with. Your Live Share link is created when you activate Live Share and is only accessible through sharing.
What does AllTrails do to protect my data and privacy?
AllTrails takes privacy seriously and has implemented features to help you protect your information. Upon account creation, your AllTrails profile will have a default privacy setting of 'Public' for your content, but you can always adjust your default privacy settings, as outlined here. Each type of content will have the visibility options of 'Public', 'Followers only', or 'Only me'.
How does AllTrails store Live Share data?
While you’re using actively using Live Share, we store your real-time navigation data and any messages with your Live Share contacts. If you provide a name and phone number for a Live Share contact, we store that too. After your Live Share session is complete, we deactivate your Live Share link and archive your navigation data. Any messages with Live Share contacts are deleted two days after the end of the session.
How long does AllTrails store real-time Live Share data for?
When you hit Finish on a Live Share, we stop tracking and storing your real-time location data.
What happens to my Live Share data after the end of my activity?
When you end your activity or manually turn off Live Share, your unique URL will automatically expire, meaning it will no longer be available to you or your contacts. A new unique URL will be generated each time you use Live Share, so you must send a new link to your contacts for each outing.