Have you ever been that person who missed the party because you didn’t know where everyone was, or you’ve gone out of your mind wondering why your girlfriend is two hours late for your dinner date? This could be a thing of the past for Windows Phone users in the very near future. Shortly after Microsoft axed its chat app Rooms, it was revealed by a Spanish blog called Microsoft Place that the Redmond company is developing a location sharing app which, like Rooms, allows users to form private groups, or what has been called a “trusted circle”. People Sense, which is rumored to be released soon, is much like Apple Inc.’s Find My Friends.

Codenamed Buddy Aware, the app will allow users to share their real-time location with anyone in their trusted circle. A video review by Microsoft Place shows how when friends might want to meet up they can go into the app and find out each other’s ‘last seen’ location, pull up a map, and then find out the best route to get there and how long it will take to drive. It’s already been said that this would be an excellent app for rounding up the troops and getting everyone to a party, or even a meeting. If you’re a parent it could also come in useful if your children should ever get lost. You can of course use Facebook’s Messenger app to get a location on someone, but People Sense, we are sensing, will be much better concerning the above.

While the video doesn’t give much away, the leak suggests that a lot more features will be added, which could include things like alerts when people are on their way, close by, or have arrived. Already there are messaging and calling capabilities, which points to People Sense being the app that replaces what seemed to be the much loved Rooms. Microsoft is yet to comment on when the app will be released. All in all it looks like a very usable application which will no doubt be popular, but if your buddies aren’t using a Windows Phone then it’s not much use at all.

Photo credit: Jacob Montrasio via photopin cc