Instagram Challenges Snapchat and Apple with New Location Sharing Feature

Instagram introduces a new location-sharing feature aimed at competing with Apple’s Find My and Snapchat’s Snap Map, allowing users to share their whereabouts for one hour in chats.

Instagram Launches New Location-Sharing Feature to Compete with Snapchat and Apple

Instagram is testing a new feature that lets users share their live location with friends in chats, sparking a new competition with popular location-sharing services like Apple’s Find My and Snapchat’s Snap Map. This development is part of Instagram’s ongoing effort to diversify its offerings and improve the user experience by providing more interactive features.

As location sharing becomes increasingly common on social media, this update positions Instagram to rival the likes of WhatsApp, Apple, and Snapchat in an area where real-time connection and coordination have become essential.

Instagram’s New Location Sharing Feature: A Timely Addition

The new feature, which allows Instagram users to share their location in real-time, offers a limited yet useful window for coordination. Unlike Snapchat and Apple, which permit indefinite location sharing, Instagram limits the duration to one hour. The feature is designed to assist users in planning meetups, ensuring that friends can easily track each other’s whereabouts without the need for constant updates.

“We’re giving people a quick and simple way to coordinate in real time,” said an Instagram spokesperson. This move directly challenges Find My, Apple’s own location-sharing service, as well as Snap Map, which has become a popular tool for sharing locations with friends on Snapchat.

A Controlled Sharing Experience: Privacy and Functionality Combined

Instagram’s location-sharing feature allows users to choose one or more recipients to share their current whereabouts with. Once shared, the recipients will be able to view the user’s location, but they cannot forward it to others. A clear indicator will appear at the top of the conversation, reminding users that they are currently sharing their location.

This option is temporary, with the location sharing expiring after one hour. While this is a shorter duration compared to WhatsApp’s allowance of up to eight hours, Instagram may expand this in the future as the feature gains popularity and usage.

A Global Rollout with Limited Availability

Currently, the feature is only being rolled out in select countries, with no specific list of locations provided. This limited availability is typical of Instagram’s testing phases, which allows the platform to monitor user engagement and refine the feature before making it universally accessible.

While Instagram has not specified when the feature will be widely available, the addition could make it a strong contender in the location-sharing space, particularly among users already embedded in the Instagram ecosystem.

Instagram’s Push for More Dynamic Features

The new location-sharing feature on Instagram is part of a broader strategy to increase user engagement by introducing dynamic, practical tools that extend beyond typical photo-sharing. Alongside other updates like the ability to use pseudonyms in chats, Instagram continues to build a platform that encourages interaction and connection.

A New Frontier for Social Media Location Sharing

As Instagram steps up its competition with platforms like Snapchat and Apple, the introduction of real-time location sharing represents a significant shift in the way users interact online. This new feature is expected to offer convenience and security, allowing users to connect more effectively with friends in a wide variety of situations. Though the feature is currently limited, its potential to expand and evolve could reshape the landscape of location-based social networking in the years to come.