Chrome for Android will let you just share approximate location

Like other Android apps, Chrome now lets you share approximate, instead of precise, location with websites.

This new option gives you “more control over your location data.” Google cites examples like “getting access to local weather and news” that only require approximate location.

In the example above, we see the browser’s permission prompt adding Precise (Exact location) and Approximate (Neighborhood) above the usual options.

You can still grant precise location: “for example, you’re placing a delivery order or trying to find the closest ATM to your office.”

This feature is launching first on Chrome for Android and will expand to the desktop browser over the “coming months.”

Google is also planning to “release new APIs for web developers that will let them request approximate location or specify if they need precise location.” Developers are encouraged to “review their location needs and only ask for precise location when it’s required for the site functionality.”

This update follows Android 17 adding a number of location privacy updates. Apps benefit from a new one-time “location button,” while the system indicator in Quick Settings gets a small redesign.  The system permissions prompt has also been updated. Finally, there’s a new approximate location algorithm that improves privacy in “areas with lower population density.”