Glympse Reviews

Scenario 1 - you are on the road to visit some family or good friends and they can't wait to see you.  They are anxiously waiting for your arrival so they call and text and constantly to ask "Where are you?".

Scenario 2 - you are out with some friends and you're going to be in a few different spots.  You're a hot spot afficianado, so these places are loud and you can't hear your phone, but you want your friends to meet you wherever you might be.

Scenario 3 - you have an appointment and just might be a little late.  You call and assure them that you are on your way, but their time is important.  They'd love to know your exact progress and ETA so they can plan around it.

There have been other services that use the GPS in the phone to share where you are, but they shared too freely and never really gained the trust of mainstream users.  With both Loopt and Lattitude, you invite specific people to follow you for an indefinite amount of time.  A quick crank up of your imaginative engine will expose how inconvenient this can be. 

The solution?  Glympse.

On your phone - Give a Glympse

The person sharing simply installs a small application.  This application was originally developed or Android and then ported over to Windows Mobile.  Finally, the iPhone app was recently added as well and their site has "Coming Soon" as a teaser that more phone platforms will be added.  It is easiest to install from each platforms application store/marketplace.

Once the app is installed, you can then start sharing.  I found sending a Glympse to be quite simple.  The program did a great job of connecting with my AT&T HTC Tilt 2's GPS and it located my position on the map quite quickly.  From the main screen there are two choices.  You can click on Menu and do some customizing, like uploading your picture which can be used above the arrow showing where you are.  (nice touch, if you ask me)  You can also jump right into "Send Glympse".  From there it's a wizard type of setup, you pick the SPECIFIC contacts that you want to share your location with.  Then you get to the Glympse Option page.  Here you can add three things:

1. Change duration.  This is where you give access for a SPECIFIC amount of time.  You can choose to send an Instant Glympse which will only give your current location or you can share for a specific amount of time between 5 minutes and 4 hours.
2. Add a message (optional).  Here you can simply type a note for the recipient.
3. Add a destination - you can show the person not only where you are, but where you are going.  So if it's their home or office, they can peek at your progress.

On their phone or computer - Get a Glympse

In the past with Loopt and Lattitude the recipient would have had to have installed an application to see where you were - not with Glympse.  You can send the Glympse to a person either on their cell phone via SMS or to their email account for use on the phone or their computer.  They will get a clickable link that will take them to a page with your Glympse.  They will see where you are on the map and a clock will let them know how long you've granted access.  If you've provided a destination, Glympse will also try to estimate your arrival.  No installation required.

Quick Glympse - Overview

This is the first GPS enabled sharing application that I've liked or used more than once.  Here's why:

1.  Private - only share to specific people for a specific amount of time
2.  Easy - the app connected to GPS quickly and entering in the wizard is fast and friendly
3.  Hassle free for recipient - no installation needed for people you choose to give a Glympse to
4.  Did I mention that this application is free?

A Glympse of Glympse - an "official" Glympse YouTube Video