R
Robert Nazarian
Guest
I remember in my early days of Android, the first location sharing app I downloaded was Glympse. It’s still the only one I use on a regular basis. Even at its infancy, it had a great user interface and worked well. Through many updates, Glympse has continued to be the premier location sharing app. It’s simple and it just plain works. I had a chance to sit down with Glympse co-founder and CEO, Bryan Trussel, to talk about where Glympse is heading.
If you aren’t familiar with Glympse, it’s an app available for Android and iOS that allows you to share your location (called a Glympse) in real time to whomever you wish, whether it be one person or the whole world. Now you aren’t just sharing a general location that updates every 10 minutes, it’s very detailed and in real-time. If you’re driving, others will see you actually moving on the map. If you entered your destination, it will let others know the estimated time of arrival, and they can even see your expected route. You can even create groups for those that are meeting at a certain location. So for example, if you are meeting some friends at the big football game, everyone will be visible on the same map. Glympse can even send location updates to your contacts that are associated with a calendar appointment in Gmail or Outlook.
Now as easy as Glympse is to use, consumers want easier. Glympse isn’t an “always on” location sharing service, so they want to make it as easy as possible for users to share when they want to. That means more like 1 or 2 taps to start a Glympse instead of 4 or 5. For the phone, that will come with a widget for Android and cloud accounts so users will always have their most used Glympses ready to go from any device. These features could arrive in a couple of months.
They are also partnering with other applications. For instance, Verizon Wireless recently added Glympse to their own instant messaging app. The Verizon instant messaging app can be used for all your SMS texts, and from within the app, you can quickly launch a Glympse with one tap and share your location with the person you are chatting with. You don’t even need the Glympse app installed on your phone. It couldn’t be easier. They also collaborated with the Garmin app for phones. We can expect to see more of this type of partnering in the future.
Taking it one step further is the automobile. Glympse has already partnered with Ford, Mercedes Benz, and BMW, but at CES 2014, they just announced GM, Jaguar, and Volvo. Some cars, such as GM’s, will have Glympse built-in so you don’t even need the app installed on your phone. They even partnered with the gogo in-flight Wi-Fi service for location sharing on flights.
Next up is wearables. Glympse is already available on the Galaxy Gear, and they are working on an app for the Pebble. They are probably working on other stuff like Google Glass, but Bryan couldn’t share anything right now.
Glympse already had a banner year in 2013, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down. 2014 promises to be an even bigger year, and you can expect to see that “G” logo in more and more places.
If you haven’t tried Glympse, hit one of the download links below and give it a shot. I guarantee that you will love it.
Come comment on this article: The future is bright for Glympse
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