On Monday, Instagram announced an update to its Map feature designed to make it easier for users to see if they are sharing their location. The social network also revealed it is launching this Snap Map-like feature to users in India, following its initial rollout in the United States and Canada back in August.
When the feature first launched, it caused widespread confusion. Numerous social media posts incorrectly urged users to turn off location sharing, claiming it was automatically enabled by default. At that time, Instagram head Adam Mosseri reassured users that their location is only visible to others if they actively decide to share it.
Now, two months later, Instagram is adding a more prominent indicator at the top of the Map. This reminder shows users whether they are sharing their location or if they have their device location turned off entirely. A new indicator also appears under a user’s profile photo in the Notes tray on the direct messages page to clarify when they are not sharing their location.
Initially, some users believed that tagging a location in a post meant they were sharing their real-time location on the Map, especially since their profile picture would appear over the content. However, this was not the case, as the feature simply pulls in posts that have location tags. To reduce this confusion, Instagram has now removed profile photos from Map content to make it clear that this does not indicate someone’s current location.
Instagram will also display an educational reminder notifying users that when they add a location tag to a story, reel, or post, it will appear on the Map. It is worth noting that this is not a new function, as Instagram already made location tags visible to users in its map view. To provide even more clarity, Instagram will now show a preview to users demonstrating how their content will look on the Map when they add a location.
With its new Map feature, Instagram has copied another popular feature from Snapchat, following its cloning of the app’s core Stories functionality back in 2016.
When Instagram first announced the feature, it stated the Map is designed to make it easier for friends to coordinate and meet up. It also allows users to explore location-based content that their friends and favorite creators have shared or engaged with. Instagram confirmed that regardless of whether you choose to share your own location, you can still use the map to explore this location-based content.