Instagram has over 2 billion active users, making any new feature like Instagram Friend Map potentially significant.The feature replicates functionality found in popular apps like Snapchat and Zenly, indicating user interest.Location sharing features often raise privacy concerns, sparking discussion and interest.
Instagram is working on a “Friend Map” feature, an official from Meta told TechCrunch on Monday. Similar to Snapchat’s Snap Map, the opt-in tool would let users view the real-time locations of their friends. According to the company, the feature is only being evaluated internally and is not being tested outside. Reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi was the first to notice the function; he frequently finds social network features under development before they are formally released.
Following the 2016 cloning of the app’s main Stories functionality, Instagram would be stealing yet another widely used feature from Snapchat if it decides to formally introduce the Friend Map. Along with Apple, Instagram will launch its “Find My” feature, which allows users to see the current locations of their friends and family. Instagram will be offering users an additional reason to use its app more and stay away from other businesses’ services with this new feature.
Additionally, Instagram could win over users who like Zenly, a social map app that Snap bought and later closed down the previous year.
Paluzzi shared screenshots of Instagram’s Friend Map on Threads, showing that users could control who could see where they were. Additionally, the screenshots show that location data would be encrypted from beginning to end. You have the option to share your location with your “Close Friends” list, other followers, or no one at all. Additionally, a “Ghost Mode” setting on the map would conceal your most recent active location.
Users would be able to post a few words, or “Notes,” on the map for other people to see through the Friend Map. When the Friend Map launches, users will have the ability to publish these brief updates on the map in place of the current Instagram Notes, which are the brief notes that show up at the top of your direct messaging stream. You could utilize the Notes feature on the map to tell your pals about a new restaurant you’re trying out or about a fantastic pop-up shop you discovered.
