Instagram rolling out Find My Friends-like feature for sharing live location

2 hours ago 1

Instagram icon on a gradient of Instagram colors

Apple’s Find My Friends (which is now integrated into the Find My app) lets you share your location in real time with other people. Soon, Instagram users will have access to a similar feature to share their location with friends and family right from the social network.

Meta announced on Monday some new features coming to Instagram direct messages, and location sharing support is one of them. The company said in a blog post that the feature aims to make it easier for people to arrange hangouts directly from their Instagram conversations. “Spend more time together, and less time coordinating,” the post reads.

For privacy reasons, the location can only be shared individually by DMs or in a group chat. The feature is turned off by default and real-time location is only shared for one hour – after that, Instagram automatically ends sharing. The app will also display an indicator to show when the location is being shared. Of course, you should never share your location with people you don’t know.

Unlike Apple’s Find My, there’s no option to always share your location with others on Instagram. Earlier this year, Meta confirmed that it was testing a feature similar to Snap Map to show the location of friends on a map. However, the feature has yet to be made available to users.

In addition to location sharing, Instagram is also adding new sticker packs for DMs, as well as custom nicknames for people in group chats.

Instagram now rolling out its own Find My Friends-like feature

The Instagram app for iPhone is available for free on the App Store. Make sure you have the latest version of the app installed on your device in order to get access to the latest features. Keep in mind that when it comes to the location sharing feature, Meta says it’s only available in “selected countries.”