Life360, the communication and location app for families on Android and iOS, announced Monday the launch of a much-anticipated new feature, known as Circles, that allows its users to make private groups for friends, extended family, caregivers, and more.
Chris Hulls, CEO and co-founder of Life360 said Circles allows users to stay connected with indirect family members, such as babysitters, friends, Little League teams, dog walkers, and more.
He added that Circles provide what Life360 users have requested in the past: the ability to configure personal privacy controls suitable for each Circle they create.
Circles are invite-only private groups. Members of a certain Circle may send to each other messages, share current locations, and use the popular check-in feature by Life360 unobtrusively with other members of the Circle. Users can simply pause their own location-sharing feature for Circles that they deem extraneous to be set to “always on.” At present, users can create an infinite number of Circles through the Life360 app.
Through its location-based technology, Life360 allows families to share their current locations, know if someone requires their help, and talk to each other easily using in-app messaging. Its creators say the app runs in a secure and convenient way that will not affect personal freedom or hectic schedules.
Life360, founded in 2008, recently exceeded the mark for 42 million users. It is a freely available app for Android and iOS devices that use location-based technology to help its users keep in contact with their circles of friends during the course of the day through a chat stream, private map, regular check-ins, and panic alerts if necessary.
Earlier this year, the company added a widely used geo-fencing feature, known as Places, that enables users to choose or mark favorite locations and get automatic notifications when family members arrive in that particular location.
Life360 is a viable replacement for location-based app users who were disheartened with Google’s shuttering of Google Latitude on August 9.
Life360 introduced this year a Premium product that users may opt to sign up for at a monthly price of $5 or an annual fee of $50. The paid service offers 24/7 accessibility to roadside assistance, a Live Advisor, expanded location history, $100 in stolen phone protection, unlimited use of Places, and location lookups for feature phones.
Life360 reported raising $10 million in Series B funding in July this year. It was headed by DCM Ventures, with the expected involvement of current investors. Life360 is using the capital funds to further advance its planned growth initiatives, including the distribution and localization of the app for global markets, product improvements, and product integration with partners in the automotive and home security sectors.
You can download the Life360’s Android app here and the iPhone app here.
