Snapchat users will be able to share their current location with friends

Snapchat users will now have a new option to stay connected with their friends. Today, the firm announced the launch of real-time location sharing, which is intended to serve as a temporary buddy system while friends and family are out on a date or returning home, for example.

The capability is comparable to iOS’s Find My app, which allows users who opt in to view and share their precise position. Individual users can enable the Snapchat setting for 15 minutes or a few hours, and it is only available amongst mutual friends on the app. To avoid stalking or feeling compelled to continually broadcast their position, Snapchat says users can halt sharing without notifying the other person. By default, the function is disabled, and there is no option to broadcast your current position with all of your Snapchat friends.

Users may enable the setting by visiting a friend’s profile and selecting the length of location sharing. Within the chat box with that buddy, the state of live location sharing is shown.

This is Snapchat’s first live location feature. Users currently have the option of allowing their friends to see where they were when they last used the app, which populates the Snap Map, which is accessed by 250 million Snapchat users each month.

Snapchat is teaming with It’s On Us, a national nonprofit organisation dedicated to ending campus sexual assault, on this release. Along with the buddy system, Snapchat will also include an in-app warning regarding bystander awareness.