Meta Platforms Inc HALF Instagram is working on a new feature that it mimics of Snap Inc HURRY Snapchat “Snap Map” functionality. This will allow users to share location with their friends from Instagram, instead of using Snapchat.
What happened: Mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi discovered Instagram’s “Friends Map” feature that had been in the works for a few months now.
Paluzzi finds out about upcoming features of popular apps like Instagram before they’re officially announced. He discovered the first version of the “Friends Map” feature in November, but Instagram has since added more features to get it ready for release.
See also: Zuckerberg’s meta-coup from $3.8 billion UK lawsuit over data collection practices
Here’s how Instagram’s upcoming “Friend Map” feature works
Like Snap Map, Instagram’s Friends Map feature allows users to share their location and movement details with their friends and followers. This allows users to find out where their friends are and what they are doing.
Users can also leave short notes about recently visited places. This can be useful in cases where there are sales or events going on in a particular location. Or if there’s a new restaurant that users want to talk about with their friends, without cluttering their Instagram feed.
Apart from that, posts with location tags will also appear on the Friends Map.
According to the screenshots shared by Paluzzi, the location shared in the Instagram Friends Map is end-to-end encrypted. Users also have the ability to customize who they share their location with. There’s also a “Ghost Mode” switch that allows users to hide their last active location.
Because matter: Instagram has been adding new features to the app to keep it interesting enough for its users amid reports that more than a million users search for “How to Delete Instagram” every month.
Another recently noticed feature is “Flipside” – it allows users to share more candid photos with their friends without worrying about others looking at them.
Interestingly, the news about Instagram’s Friends Map feature comes at a time when the company is facing increased scrutiny over its privacy policies. Some of these concerns revolve around the exploitation of Meta platforms to predatoryly target teenagers.
Meta was recently hit with a $3.8 billion lawsuit in the UK over its data collection practices.
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Solen Fey’s photo is on Unsplash