Major social platform Snapchat is reportedly adding a new location sharing feature. This change comes as part of the company’s efforts to improve its security features. And going into more detail, the updated app now features real-time location sharing, which allows users to share their precise location with selected friends for short periods of time.
By the way, if you’re not aware, Snap Map has been using location sharing for years, but the current, updated version of this feature only updates your location when you open the Snapchat app. The new “live location” will allow selected friends to see exactly where you are in real time for a given period of time. And yes, this is implemented very similar to how it is done in the Apple Find Me application. The user’s location information can be transmitted for 15 minutes, one hour, or eight hours at a time.
The company says the added functionality could make it easier to meet up with friends, or even help people “stay safe” in situations where they might need the extra reassurance that a friend or family member can see where they are. What’s more, the company also notes that users will need to “befriend and mutually agree” to share the feature of receiving each other’s real-time location data. That is, if someone is against it, this opportunity will not work.
This update, it’s important to note, comes shortly after Snap has been trying to improve its security features in recent months. The company just recently announced that it would limit teen friend referrals for the very purpose of preventing teens from dealing with drug dealers targeted specifically at the teen “audience”. It is also expected that later this year the application will launch new parental controls that will also be designed to increase the level of safety for children on the platform, which has been experiencing some problems for several years now.
