How to "drop a pin" for iPhone AND Android users?

This past weekend I "dropped a pin" on restaurant X using Maps and then "Shared the location" via Message to a friend. I had no idea what kind of phone this friend had. I assumed she received the destination and I waited, and I waited, and I waited. Turns out she was waiting for me at a different restaurant X location -- the one across town. We cleared this up the old fashioned way (via voice), and when she finally arrived, I looked at our chat history on her Android. Where there should have been a map link, there was a blank sound or video file. Clearly, "dropping a pin" doesn't work when there is an Android on the receiving end.

But how to know if one's pin drop hasn't been received? Do I have to confirm a friend has an iPhone before I "drop a pin"?

Is there any way to text message a location via Maps to an Android?

Solution 1:

This feature can be a bit unpredictable sending locations to Android with some of them receiving the location and others not (in actuality they all "receive" the message, just some systems don't know how to translate the information hence your friends white screen).

However, you could give something like Viber a go, since it's a third party app for both iPhone and Android the messaging systeming is not OS dependent. It has some other distinct advantages but this page has a good article aout the location sharing function they added last year.

Solution 2:

If you use the iOS Maps Share Location feature via email, the recipient gets a message with a Google Maps link to the specific location, which is openable in anything with a browser (although mobile devices may open it in a Google Maps app). It also attaches vCard containing the address of the pin and the Google Maps link.

You could also use the email feature to just get access to the link directly, and copy it into your medium of choice, discarding the email.

Solution 3:

When I don't know which kind of smartphone is on the receiving end, its better to use Google Maps app on my iPhone. I send the "dropped pin" from the Google Maps app (instead of using the Apple Maps), all Androids have Google Maps and will be able to access the link. If if the receiving end is an iPhone, it will open on Safari.