location
Location sharing in iOS 8 Messages.

The updated Messages app in Apple’s iOS 8 includes a series of features that will look familiar to users of popular third-party apps. There are self-destructing video messages (similar to Snapchat), quick audio messages (reminiscent of WhatsApp), and time-based location sharing — a concept that has been popularized by Glympse, the Seattle-based location-sharing technology startup.

“We assumed it was coming at some point,” says Bryan Trussel, the CEO of Glympse, via email this morning, noting that he’s surprised it took this long.

This phenomenon is common enough to have its own verb, “Sherlocked,” after the Apple search tool that mimicked the functionality of the popular Watson third-party app for Mac OS X.

But it’s not necessarily a bad thing. In this case, the new feature may compete with Glympse in some situations, but it’s “certainly not a replacement,” says Trussel. He cites the past examples of Apple’s FindMyFriends and Google’s Latitude, which actually ended up driving more downloads of Glympse in the end.

Like the other companies whose products are mimicked by new Apple features, Glympse has the advantage of being experts in their field. It also has the advantage of working across a wide variety of platforms and settings.

Here’s more from what Trussel had to say this morning …

[W]hile it may create competition for people in a current iMessage conversation, we have a much more robust and broad experience with Glympse. We are cross platform, we are compatible with any messaging application, we have richer map and sharing features.

We have Glympse integration with most major auto manufacturers, Gogo inflight, Garmin Navigation, and Samsung watches. And we’ll continue to lead even on just the messaging front that Apple has now jumped in.  For example, we have a much more robust messaging location experience that is shipping native on Verizon Android devices, and is integrated into BBM, and Samsung’s ChatOn. (and more coming soon…)

So Apple will continue add compelling features to its vertical products. We’ll continue to expand our features and partnerships across the open ecosystem, by creating the most robust and easiest way to share location.

Glympse, backed by investors including Ignition Partners and Menlo Ventures, was founded in 2008 by Microsoft veterans Trussel, Jeremy Mercer, and Steve Miller. The company’s apps are available here.

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