Live Location in Telegram | Generated by AI
You’re observing a common pattern with Telegram’s live location updates, and based on the edit_date timestamps, it certainly looks like live location updates can be received very frequently, potentially even every second or at very short intervals.
Here’s why and what the pattern indicates:
Pattern Observation:
Looking at your provided JSON, specifically the edited_message objects with the location field and increasing edit_date:
update_id: 263947386 -edit_date: 1749371583update_id: 263947388 -edit_date: 1749371587 (4 seconds after the previous one)update_id: 263947389 -edit_date: 1749371591 (4 seconds after the previous one)update_id: 263947390 -edit_date: 1749371595 (4 seconds after the previous one)update_id: 263947391 -edit_date: 1749371602 (7 seconds after the previous one)update_id: 263947392 -edit_date: 1749371614 (12 seconds after the previous one)update_id: 263947393 -edit_date: 1749371624 (10 seconds after the previous one)update_id: 263947394 -edit_date: 1749371628 (4 seconds after the previous one)
And there’s also a message object:
update_id: 263947387 -date: 1749371586 (This is a new message, not an edited live location)
Does it mean live location messages will be received every 1 second?
Not necessarily exactly every 1 second, but very frequently, often with sub-5-second intervals, especially when there’s movement or a need for higher accuracy updates.
Here’s why:
- Live Location Nature: Live location is designed to provide near real-time updates of a user’s position. For this to be “live,” the updates must be frequent.
edited_message: Unlike regular messages, live location updates are sent asedited_messageupdates to a single, existing message. This means the original message containing the live location is constantly being updated with new coordinates.edit_datefield: Theedit_datetimestamp in theedited_messageobject clearly shows that these updates are happening very close to each other.- Factors Influencing Frequency:
- Movement: If the user is moving, the updates will typically be more frequent to reflect the changing position accurately.
live_period: Thelive_periodfield (e.g., 28800 seconds, which is 8 hours) indicates how long the live location sharing will last. Within this period, updates will occur as needed.- Horizontal Accuracy: Changes in
horizontal_accuracymight also trigger updates, as the device refines its location estimate. - Network Conditions: While Telegram tries to send updates promptly, network latency could introduce slight variations in the exact timing of when you receive them.
- Telegram’s Internal Logic: Telegram has its own internal algorithms to determine the optimal frequency of sending updates based on the user’s activity, device battery, and network conditions. It’s not a fixed “every 1 second” rule but rather an adaptive one.
In summary:
The pattern you see with rapidly changing edit_date for the edited_message containing location strongly suggests that Telegram sends live location updates very frequently. While it might not be precisely every 1 second, intervals of a few seconds (e.g., 1-5 seconds, or slightly longer if the user is stationary) are typical for live location. The occasional longer gap could be due to network conditions, the user being stationary, or Telegram’s internal optimization.