Instagram has become the latest app to get support for live location sharing. Its maker, Meta, announced on Monday that the feature is part of Direct Messages (DMs), allowing you to share your real-time location with your friends during conversations.
The social media behemoth isn"t a stranger to live location sharing, as its other platforms, WhatsApp and Messenger, have embraced the feature for years. However, Instagram"s live location feature lets you share your location for up to one hour.
To share location in a conversation, tap on the + button in the bottom right corner and choose Location.
Moreover, you can pin a spot on the map to coordinate arrival times and activities or locate your friends in crowded places like concerts and other outdoor events. You can share live location privately in one-to-one conversations or group chats.
When sharing your location, Instagram will display an indicator at the top of the chat as a reminder to turn it off when not required. A privacy check is that the location shared in a chat can"t be forwarded to other chats.
The company said in a blog post that Instagram"s live location sharing is currently available in select countries. Meta has also introduced 17 new sticker packs for Instagram with over 300 stickers, which you can share in your DMs.
Another update lets you add nicknames for yourself and your friends on Instagram DMs. In other words, you can refer to other users by names that might be familiar or easier to recognize. To create a nickname, you can tap on the chat name at the top, tap Nicknames, and select the username of the person that you want to nickname.
A nickname you create only appears in your DM chats, and everyone can see it, but it doesn"t change your username in other places across the app. You can choose if other people can change your nickname in a chat.