Snapchat Rolls Out Live Location Sharing to Help Users Inform Friends About Their Real-Time Location
Snapchat launched Temporary Live Location on Friday, allowing users to share their current location with friends.
The new feature, which is now available to all Snapchat users worldwide, will allow users to share their real-time whereabouts with friends to let them know when they are on their way to meet up or when they are on their way home at night. However, live location sharing differs from regular location sharing on Snapchat, which has been available since 2017 via the integrated Snap Map.
Snapchat users can now share their live location updates with friends for up to eight hours using the new location sharing feature. The feature is only available between friends on an individual basis.
Before you can share your live location, you and your friend must first accept each other as Snapchat friends. Furthermore, when a user accesses the live location feature for the first time, Snapchat displays a pop-up window. It basically reminds users that the live location is only for close friends and family. The goal here is to avoid privacy issues that could arise as a result of real-time location sharing.
The Temporary Live Location Sharing feature will be available globally on Android and iOS on Friday.
What is the best way to share a live location on Snapchat?
You can share your real-time location on Snapchat by going to the profile of a friend with whom you want to share your location. Once you’ve opened your friend’s profile, scroll down to see the Share My Live Location option.
Snapchat will now display a pop-up informing you of the feature. You have the option of tapping Sounds good! to proceed, and then choose the time frame for which you want your live location to be shared with your friend.
Because the feature only works between friends on an individual basis, there is no way to share your current location with multiple friends at the same time.
When you share your live location with a friend, your Bitmoji will display a special ‘LIVE’ icon. The icon, however, will not be visible to other users of the app.
The Snapchat Temporary Live Location feature is an extension of the existing Snap Map, which was launched in June 2017 and allows you to opt-in to share your location with your friends based on your preferences, such as all friends or selected ones.
Snap Map, on the other hand, only updates location information when the app is open. This is not the case with the new feature, as it will continue to display your current location for the time period you specify.
Overall, Snapchat’s Temporary Live Location feature works similarly to how you can share your live location with your WhatsApp contacts.
Snap, Snapchat’s parent company, stated that the new location sharing feature was created based on community feedback about how people use Snap Map with their friends. It is also part of a larger collaboration with the US non-profit ‘It’s On Us,’ which aims to combat campus sexual assault through education and awareness campaigns.
Snap will also be releasing a new public service announcement (PSA) within the Snapchat app today aimed at “increasing bystander awareness” in order to help people limit cases of sexual assault.
Snapchat revamped Snap Map with Explore and Memories Layers last year to improve location-based experiences on its platform. It has also recently begun serving advertisements within Stories in order to monetize content.
