Meta has confirmed that it is developing an optional feature called Instagram Friend Map, which will allow users to see their friends’ locations in real-time. The company stated that this feature, similar to Snapchat’s Snap Map, is still a prototype and has not been externally tested.
Instagram Friend Map will be another feature borrowed from Snapchat
The feature was first discovered by Alessandro Paluzzi, who frequently reverse engineers social media features often found in development before their official releases.
If Instagram officially introduces the Friend Map feature, it will be another feature borrowed from Snapchat, following the introduction of the Stories feature in 2016. Instagram will also be eyeing Apple’s “Find My” map feature, which allows users to see where their friends and family are in real-time.
With this new feature, Instagram will give users another reason to spend more time in the app and spend less time on other companies’ services. According to screenshots shared by Paluzzi on Threads, Instagram Friend Map will allow users to choose who can see their locations. The screenshots also indicate that location data will be end-to-end encrypted. Users can choose to share their location only with followers who follow them back, with their “Close Friends” list, or with no one at all. The map will also include a “Ghost Mode” setting that will hide your last active location.
Instagram Friend Map will allow users to leave short messages or Notes on the map for others to see. If the feature is released, users will have the option to publish these short updates on the map. The Notes function on the map could be used to leave fun pop-up messages to your friends or to notify them about a new restaurant you’re currently eating at.
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