Google’s Latitude friend-finder service is now available as a web application running in Safari.
First making waves as both a popular app for the Apple iPhone and iTouch, Google Latitude debuted in February 2009 as an opt-in service that allows smartphone users to share their whereabouts of family and
friends.
Although some find it stalkerish to show the location of another’s whereabouts, the coverage only applies to contacts who opt in to share their location.
The new Google Latitude web app supports devices running on the iPhone 3.0 OS.
It’s available now in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Why the move to a web app?
“We worked closely with Apple to bring Latitude to the iPhone in a way Apple thought would be best for iPhone users,” ways Google Mobile Team product manager Mat Balez. “After we developed a Latitude application for the iPhone, Apple requested we release Latitude as a web application in order to avoid confusion with Maps on the iPhone, which uses Google to serve maps tiles.”
