Instagram is introducing the ability for users to share their locations with their friends via DMs (direct messages), the company announced on Monday. The feature indicates that the Meta-owned social network is looking to challenge services like Apple’s Find My and Snapchat’s Snap Map, both of which are popular ways for users to see their friends’ and loved ones’ live locations.
The launch of the feature doesn’t come as a total surprise, as Instagram was spotted testing a way for users to see their friends’ live locations earlier this year. It’s worth noting that Meta’s other messaging app, WhatsApp, has allowed users to share their live locations with others for quite some time.
Unlike Apple and Snapchat, which let you share your location with others indefinitely, Instagram is only letting users do so for up to one hour. Instagram says the feature can be used to coordinate arrival times or to find your friends in crowded spaces.
You can choose to share your location with one person, or with a group chat. Once you share your location, only the people in the specific chat will be able to see where you are, and your location can’t be forwarded to other chats. You will also see an indicator at the top of the chat to remind you that you are currently sharing your live location.
All live locations expire after one hour. Given that WhatsApp lets you share your location with others for up to eight hours, it’s possible that Instagram’s time limit on location-sharing may change in the future.
The new feature is available in select countries, the company said. TechCrunch reached out for more specifics.
Instagram also announced on Monday that users can now customize names in DMs by adding nicknames for themselves or others. The company says the feature can be used to share an inside joke or to simply shorten lengthy usernames.
You can create a nickname by tapping on the chat name at the top of a conversation and then selecting “Nicknames.” From there, you can select the username of the person you want to assign a nickname to. Nicknames are only visible in your DM chats.
Plus, Instagram is rolling out 17 new sticker packs with more than 300 stickers that you can share in DMs.
