Life360, a location and communication app for families, has shared findings from a recent omnibus survey that show a growing acceptance and use of location sharing apps. The survey, conducted by VeraQuest among a group of more of 1,169 teens and adults who own a smartphone, examined habits and feelings about sharing one's location through an app.
More than 60 percent of smartphone users report that they use at least one location sharing app on their smartphone, and 36 percent say they use two or more. 41 percent of adults say they are more willing to share their location today versus five years ago.
Both teens and adults overwhelmingly cite safety as the primary reason they are willing to share their location through an app. Yet that feeling of safety is tied to sharing one's location with family members more so than friends. 87 percent of teens and 73 percent of adults say they feel safer knowing that their family is aware of their location through an app while only 39 percent of teens and 42 percent of adults say they feel safer knowing that friends are aware of their location.
Interestingly, given the number of location sharing apps built to promote socialization with friends and places, only 46 percent of adults and 47 percent of teens say they feel more connected to others when they share their location through a location sharing app.
"As our user base has exploded to more than 20 million families, we were curious to learn more about the habits and motivations for location sharing," said Chris Hulls, co-founder and CEO of Life360. "It's particularly interesting to see that safety is the primary reason driving the use of location sharing apps, and that location sharing with family trumps sharing with friends."
Founded in 2008, Life360 is a free app for iOS and Android that uses location-based technology to help its users stay connected throughout the day via a private map and chat stream, regular check-ins, and "panic alerts" when needed. The Life360 "Circles" feature enables users to set up separate groups for family, friends, babysitters and others with separate privacy controls for each circle. The app's popular "Places" feature allows users to designate their favorite locations and receive automatic alerts when family members arrive. Users have the option to sign up for Life360 Premium, which for $5 per month or $50 per year provides access to a 24/7 Live Advisor, roadside assistance, unlimited use of Places, expanded location history,$100 in stolen phone protection, and location lookups for non-smartphones.
Conducted by VeraQuest, Inc., the survey sampled 1,950 online general population respondents aged 18+ and 250 teens within the United States between June 27 and June 30, 2013. Respondents were randomly selected to be proportional to the demographic strata of total U.S. population. The estimated sampling error for adults is +/- 2.2 percent +/-6.2 percent among teens at a 95 percent confidence level. These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
