Instagram is introducing a new feature that allows users to share their locations with friends via direct messages, as announced by the company on Monday. This feature suggests that the Meta-owned social network is aiming to compete with services like Apple’s Find My and Snapchat’s Snap Map, which are popular methods for users to track the live locations of their friends and loved ones.
The introduction of this feature was not entirely unexpected, as Instagram had been testing a way for users to view their friends’ live locations earlier in the year. It is worth noting that Meta’s messaging app, WhatsApp, has allowed users to share their live locations with others for a while now.
In contrast to Apple and Snapchat, which allow users to share their locations indefinitely, Instagram is only permitting users to do so for up to one hour. The company suggests that this feature can be used to coordinate meeting times or to locate friends in crowded areas.
Users can choose to share their location with one person or a group chat. Once shared, only members of that specific chat will be able to view the user’s location, and it cannot be forwarded to other chats. Additionally, a reminder indicator will be displayed at the top of the chat to indicate that the user is sharing their live location.
All live locations will expire after one hour. Considering that WhatsApp allows location sharing for up to eight hours, Instagram’s time limit on location sharing may change in the future.
The new feature is currently available in select countries, with more details requested by TechCrunch.
In addition to the location-sharing feature, Instagram also announced the ability for users to customize names in direct messages by adding nicknames for themselves or others. This feature can be used to share a joke or shorten lengthy usernames.
To create a nickname, users can tap on the chat name at the top of a conversation and select “Nicknames.” From there, they can assign a nickname to the desired recipient’s username. Nicknames are only visible within the user’s direct message chats.
Furthermore, Instagram is rolling out 17 new sticker packs containing over 300 stickers that can be shared in direct messages.
