Snapchat takes a cue from Apple’s ‘Find My’ with new Live Location sharing feature

Snapchat is continuing its busy week of announcing new features, this time with its eyes on Apple’s Find My network. Snap has announced a new real-time location sharing feature, which it says is designed to be used as a “buddy system” of sorts. This is an expansion of Snapchat’s incredibly popular Snap Map feature that launched back in 2017.

Snapchat’s new Live Location feature is described as a way to share your precise location with “trusted friends and family.” In the past, the Snap Map feature has only showed approximate location, and that location information only updates when the Snapchat user opens the app, not in the background.

To address potential privacy issues, Snapchat has implemented a handful of different safeguards to prevent stalking and harassment. First off, the Live Location feature is not meant to be enabled on a 24/7 basis. Instead, the company says that you can enable live location sharing with trusted contacts for as short of a time period as 15 minutes, or as long as 8 hours.

Additionally, the feature is disabled by default and users can also pause location sharing without sending a notification to the other person. There is also no option to share Live Location with all of your Snapchat friends. Instead, it must be enabled on a friend-by-friend basis. Again, the company emphasizes that you should only use the feature for “trusted friends and family.”

Snapchat is pitching this as a “buddy system” feature of sorts. For instance, you can share your location with a trusted friend when you’re on your way home from a night out. Your friend can watch your location in the Snapchat app while you make your way home, then Live Location sharing can be turned off altogether (via The Verge).

You can find the new Live Location option by going to a friend’s profile in the Snapchat app. This is where you can enable location sharing with that friend. Just make sure you’re running the latest version of the Snapchat app from the App Store.

This is a notable new feature for Snapchat, even if it’s somewhat limited in scope due to privacy protections and concerns. The existing Snap Map feature is used by more than 250 million Snapchat users per month, so it’s notable to see the company expanding on its location feature. Apple also operates its vast Find My network, which also enables real-time live location sharing between friends and family members.