Meta is developing an optional Instagram Friend Map feature that will allow users to see their friends’ locations in real-time. The company stated that this feature, which is similar to Snapchat’s Snap Map, is just a prototype and has not been tested externally.
Instagram Friend Map will be another feature taken from Snapchat
The feature was first spotted by Alessandro Paluzzi, who frequently reverse-engineers social media features that are often discovered in development before their official launch.
If Instagram officially introduces the Friend Map feature, it will be another feature it stole from Snapchat, following the app’s 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 moment by moment.
With this new feature, Instagram will give users another reason to spend more time on its app and make them spend less time on other companies’ services.
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According to screenshots shared by Paluzzi on Threads, the Instagram Friend Map will allow users to choose who can see their location. The screenshots also show that location data will be end-to-end encrypted. You can choose to share your location only with followers who follow you back, your “Close Friends” list, or 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 text messages or Notes on the map that others can see. If the feature becomes available, users will have the option to broadcast these short updates on the map. The Notes function on the map can be used to do things like notify your friends about a fun pop-up shop you stumbled upon or a new restaurant you’re currently eating at.
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