Snapchat Introduces Live Location Sharing for Users Around the Globe

Snapchat on Friday introduced Temporary Live Location on its platform to let users share their live location with friends. The new feature, which is rolling out to all Snapchat users globally, will let users share their real-time whereabouts with friends to let them know that they are en-route to meet up or when they are going home along at night. However, live location sharing is different from the regular location sharing on Snapchat that is available through the integrated Snap Map since 2017.

With the new location sharing feature, users on Snapchat can share their live location updates with friends for a period between 15 minutes and up to eight hours. The feature works only between friends on an individual basis. This means that your live location will not be visible to the entire community on the platform and will only be shared with the friend who you have selected from the app.

You and your friend must also have to accept each other as friends on Snapchat before sharing your live location. Further, Snapchat shows a pop-up window when a user accesses the live location feature for the first time. It essentially reminds users that the live location is meant specifically for close friends and family. The purpose here is to avoid privacy issues that could emerge due to real-time location sharing.

The Temporary Live Location Sharing feature is rolling out globally on Friday across Android and iOS.

You can share your live location on Snapchat by going to the profile of one of your friends with whom you want to share your location in real time. Once you've opened your friend's profile, scroll down to see the Share My Live Location option.

Snapchat will now show you a pop-up to inform you about the feature. You can tap Sounds good! to go ahead and then select the time frame for which you want your live location to be shared with your friend.

Since the feature works only between friends on an individual basis, there is no option to let you share your live location with multiple friends at once.

When sharing your live location with a friend, they will see your Bitmoji with a special ‘LIVE' icon. The icon will, though, not be visible to others on the app.

The Temporary Live Location feature on Snapchat comes as an extension of the existing Snap Map that was launched back in June 2017 where you can opt-in to share your location with your friends on the basis of your selection, such as all friends and selected ones.

Snap Map, however, only updates location information when users have the app open. This isn't the case with the new feature as it will continue to show your live location for the pre-selected time.

Overall, the Temporary Live Location feature on Snapchat works similar to how you can share your live location with your contacts on WhatsApp.

Snapchat parent Snap said that it designed the new location sharing feature on the basis of community feedback about how people are using Snap Map with their friends. It is also a part of a broader partnership with US non-profit ‘It's On US' that aims to combat campus sexual assault through awareness and prevention education programmes.

From today, Snap will also be publishing a new public service announcement (PSA) within the Snapchat app “on increasing bystander awareness” to help people limit cases including sexual assault.

Last year, Snapchat revamped Snap Map with Explore and Memories Layers to enhance the location-based experiences on its platform. It also recently started serving advertisements within Stories to monetise content.