Instagram Updates Its Map Feature To Make It Easier To Tell If You’re Sharing Your Location

Instagram announced connected Monday that it’s updating its Map characteristic to make it easier to spot whether you’re sharing your location. The societal web besides announced that it’s launching nan Snap Map-like characteristic to users successful India, pursuing nan first rollout to users successful nan United States and Canada successful August.

When nan characteristic first launched, it caused wide confusion, pinch galore social media posts urging users to move disconnected location sharing, incorrectly claiming it was enabled by default. At nan time, Instagram caput Adam Mosseri reassured users that their location is only visible to others if they determine to stock it.

Now, 2 months later, Instagram is adding a much salient parameter astatine nan apical of nan Map to punctual users whether aliases not they’re sharing their location, aliases if they person their instrumentality location disconnected entirely. There’s besides a caller parameter that appears nether their floor plan photograph successful nan Notes tray connected nan DMs page that clarifies if they’re not sharing your location.

Additionally, users initially believed that tagging a location successful their posts meant they were sharing their existent clip location connected nan Map, arsenic their floor plan image would look complete nan content. However, this isn’t nan lawsuit arsenic nan characteristic simply pulls successful posts pinch location tags. To trim confusion, Instagram has now removed floor plan photos from Map contented to make it clear that it does not bespeak someone’s existent location.

Instagram is besides going to show an acquisition reminder notifying users that erstwhile they adhd a location tag to a story, Reel, aliases post, it will celebrated connected nan Map. It’s worthy noting that this isn’t precisely new, arsenic Instagram already had location tags visible to users successful its representation view. 

And to make it moreover clearer, Instagram will now show a preview to show users really their contented will look connected nan Map erstwhile they adhd a location to Instagram content.

With its caller Map feature, Instagram copied yet different celebrated characteristic from Snapchat, aft cloning nan app’s halfway Stories functionality back successful 2016.

When Instagram first announced nan feature, it said it’s designed to make it easier for friends to coordinate and nexus up for hangouts. It besides lets users research location-based contented that their friends and favourite creators person shared aliases engaged with.

Regardless of whether you take to stock your location, you tin usage nan representation to research location-based content, Instagram said.