Android tablet:
Cloud location services
This course shows you how you can locate your other Android devices and your friends and family using your Android tablet, the Google Maps app and the cloud.
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Transcript
Welcome to the "Android tablet: Cloud location services" course. When you create a Google Account to sign in to your Android tablet, you also get free cloud services. In this course, you'll learn how to use the cloud to help find your device if it becomes lost or stolen. You'll also learn how to use Google Maps and location sharing to let family or friends know where you are, and to ask others to share their location with you. Now, there are lots of different models of Android tablet and they're all slightly different, so some of the steps in this video might look a bit different on your tablet. Don't worry, though. You'll still be able to follow along. It should take around 14 minutes to complete the video, but you can pause or rewind to check any steps you are unsure about. Before you begin check that your tablet is fully charged and has the latest version of its operating software. You'll need an internet connection over home Wi-Fi or via a mobile tablet account and plan. And you'll need to have a Google Account and be signed into it on your tablet with its email address and password. Finally, your Android tablet should be switched on, unlocked and showing the Home screen.
We're going to start by setting up your tablet so that the cloud can help you find it if it becomes lost or stolen. First find the Google app icon. You may need to swipe up on your tablet to see it on your App screen. But in our demonstration, all of Google's apps are on the Home screen, inside the Google folder. So let's tap on that. The Google app icon looks like a letter G. Tap it to open the Google app. Now, locate your Google account profile icon in the top right corner of the screen. In our demonstration, it looks like a circle with an initial, but you may have set yours up to show a picture or photo. Tap on it and a pop-up box will appear. Now, tap on, Manage your Google Account to see information about your Google Account. Below your account name and email address is a line of headings.
Find Security and tap on it. The next page shows lots of security features that you can explore later. For now, scroll down until you see Your devices. This is a list of all the devices that you are signed in to with your Google Account. It might include such devices as your Android phone if you have one, a computer or a smart speaker. Because you are looking at this list on your Android tablet, the top device will show your tablet, with a blue tick underneath it labelled, This device. This means your tablet is ready to report its location if you use another device, such as your computer, to look for it. To test this, you can use a computer's web browser to sign into your Google Account with your username and password and see your tablet's location on a map. To learn how to use your Windows computer to locate your Android tablet, watch the video called "Sharing photos and location with the cloud".
Now let's look at how to share your location with friends. You can share your location or ask friends and family to share their location with you by using the Google Maps app. To exchange location information, you need to be signed in to your tablet with your Google Account and your friend or family member must also be signed in to their device with their own Google Account. It's worth noting that people you share your location with on Google Maps can see your name and photo, information about where you've been and your saved destinations, such as a work or home address. Google may also send you advertising based on your location. Your tablet should still be running the Google app, so tap the Home button on your tablet to return to the Home screen. Now, find the Google Maps app icon. In our demonstration, it's in the Google folder, so let's tap on that. The Google Maps app icon looks like an upside-down teardrop. If you can't find it, you can download or update Google Maps using the Google Play Store.
Tap the Maps app icon to open the app. Google Maps opens showing a map. If your Android tablet has its location services turned on, this map will display your local area. If the map is not showing your current location you can tap the compass icon in the bottom right of the screen to centre the map on where you are right now. The icon looks like a circle with a dot in the middle. Tap on it, and it will change colour and the map will update to show your current location as a blue dot. Now if the compass is red and showing a question mark in the middle, that means your tablet's location services are not turned on and Google Maps can't see your precise location. This means you can't share your location with friends or family. To fix this tap the red compass and a pop-up will ask you to allow Maps to access the device's location. Tap OK to turn on your tablet's location services. The pop-up will disappear and you will see the compass become black. Tap the compass to turn it blue and the map will centre on your current location, if it isn't already. You're now ready to share your location with a friend or family member, so look for your profile icon in the top of the screen and tap on it. A pop up, showing your Google Account appears. Find 'Location sharing' in the list and tap on it. On the next screen tap the blue 'Share location' button. The map will re-open with the 'Share your real-time location' panel on top of the map.
To the right of 'Share your real time location' is a small question mark in a circle. Tap this to see another pop up that explains exactly what information is visible to a person you share your location with. To get even more information you can tap the blue words 'Learn more about location sharing'. But for now, tap the OK button. The pop up will disappear, and you can see the Share panel again. Look for the pale blue button on the left that says 'For 1 hour'. This means that the person you are about to share your location with will only see it for one hour. Then location sharing with this person will turn off automatically. Tap the pale blue button and the panel will expand. You can tap the blue minus or plus buttons to share your location for less time or for more. The minimum amount of time is 15 minutes and the maximum is three days. If you want to share your location permanently, perhaps with a close friend, carer or family member, tap Until you turn this off. The person you choose in the next step, will see your location until you tell Google Maps to stop sharing. You can select that person from the row of recent contacts that appear below. If you can't see the person you want to share your location with tap the More button to see a full list of your contacts. Scroll the list to find the person you want to share your location with and tap their name.
The circle next to their name will change to show a tick or a small Google Maps icon. When you are sure you want to share your location with this person, tap the blue Send button at the bottom right of the screen. The panel closes and the map appears again. At the bottom of the map you will see the person's name with 'Not sharing with you' and 'Can see your location' underneath. Tap their name and the panel will change to show information about this person. To stop sharing your location with them right away, tap the blue 'Stop' in the bottom right. To ask the person to share their location with you, tap Request. A pop up will appear To check that you don't mind sharing your email address with Google. If that's fine, tap 'Request' once more. Your contact will get a notification on their own tablet letting them know you want them to share their location with you. Once they agree, you will receive a notification saying the person has shared their location with you. Your tablet will now show the location sharing screen on Google Maps and the person's name will appear at the bottom. A circle with their name next to it will appear in the map and the map will become centred on the screen. Your location will appear as a blue dot.
The panel at the bottom will show how far away they are from your location. And it may show the battery charge of their tablet too. Next to the battery it may say 'Just now', in which case the location you are seeing on the map is current. If it says '5 minutes ago' or longer, you might need to refresh the location. To do this, look for the three dots on the right of the panel and tap them. A menu will pop up. Tap Refresh and wait a moment for their location to update. When you're finished, tap the Home button, but be aware that your location will still be visible to anyone you have shared it with until the timer expires or you turn it off. Congratulations. You have completed the course and learned how to locate your tablet if it goes missing and share your location with a friend via Google Maps. When you're ready, you can learn how to use your Windows computer to locate your missing Android device by watching the video called "Sharing photos and location with the cloud".