Google announced today that Google Latitude, an application that lets you see where your friends are, is now available for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch. It runs as a web application in Safari.
We worked closely with Apple to bring Latitude to the iPhone in a way Apple thought would be best for iPhone users. 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.
As with the regular application, it comes with basic Search and Directions functionality as well as privacy settings allowing you to control how your location is shared and with whom. But because the iPhone does not support applications running in the background, it will stop working as soon as you close the application. As a result, much of the benefit of this application is lost.
To try Google Latitude, type google.com/latitude into your iPhone’s browser. It requires iPhone/iPod Touch OS 3.0 or above and is available only in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (with more countries promised soon).