Instagram is testing a new feature that lets users upload text and videos on a map based on where they were taken. This tool is comparable to Snapchat’s Snap Maps.
Users will be able to share location updates with friends with this feature, and their updates will show up next to their friends’ updates.
Instagram recently revealed an upgrade that increased the maximum number of images or videos that could be included in a carousel post from 10 to 20.
Instagram Testing New Feature Similar To Snapchat’s Snap Maps
Instagram’s version of Maps may include more restrictive privacy options than Snap Maps, letting users control who can view their location (such as mutual followers or Close Friends).
A representative for Meta, Christine Pai, verified that the feature is presently a “small test” that is accessible in select areas.
For the feature to function, users must agree to share their location with Instagram.
A “Ghost Mode” option to conceal a user’s most recent active location, akin to Snapchat, may be included in the feature.
In February 2023, rumors began to circulate about Instagram’s location-based feature, which was first known as Friend Map.
When Snap Maps was introduced in 2017, users could publish public posts on a map through Snapchat.
Instagram Users Will Be Able To Select Categories
Users of Instagram will be able to select which categories, like “close friends” or “only followers they follow back,” to share their location with.
The functionality is being developed with “safety in mind,” a Meta representative told The Verge, but she did not offer any other information.
The new location-sharing function will only be offered as a “small test” in a select areas and will be opt-in.
In February, there were reports that Instagram was developing and testing a “friend map” function.
A similar tool that let users display photographs on a map was available on Instagram in 2012, but it was private and could not be shared with friends.
However, due to low usage of the 2012 map feature led to its discontinuation in 2016.
