Instagram updates its Map feature to make it easier to tell if you’re sharing your location

Instagram announced connected Monday that it’s updating its Map diagnostic to marque it easier to spot whether you’re sharing your location. The societal web besides announced that it’s launching the Snap Map-like diagnostic to users successful India, pursuing the archetypal rollout to users successful the United States and Canada successful August.

When the diagnostic archetypal launched, it caused wide confusion, with galore social media posts urging users to crook disconnected determination sharing, incorrectly claiming it was enabled by default. At the time, Instagram caput Adam Mosseri reassured users that their determination is lone disposable to others if they determine to stock it.

Now, 2 months later, Instagram is adding a much salient indicator astatine the apical of the Map to punctual users whether oregon not they’re sharing their location, oregon if they person their instrumentality determination disconnected entirely. There’s besides a caller indicator that appears nether their illustration photograph successful the Notes tray connected the DMs leafage that clarifies if they’re not sharing your location.

Additionally, users initially believed that tagging a determination successful their posts meant they were sharing their existent clip determination connected the Map, arsenic their illustration representation would look implicit the content. However, this isn’t the lawsuit arsenic the diagnostic simply pulls successful posts with determination tags. To trim confusion, Instagram has present removed illustration photos from Map contented to marque it wide that it does not bespeak someone’s existent location.

Instagram is besides going to show an acquisition reminder notifying users that erstwhile they adhd a determination tag to a story, Reel, oregon post, it volition fashionable connected the Map. It’s worthy noting that this isn’t precisely new, arsenic Instagram already had determination tags disposable to users successful its representation view. 

And to marque it adjacent clearer, Instagram volition present amusement a preview to amusement users however their contented volition look connected the Map erstwhile they adhd a determination to Instagram content.

With its caller Map feature, Instagram copied yet different fashionable diagnostic from Snapchat, aft cloning the app’s halfway Stories functionality back successful 2016.

When Instagram archetypal announced the feature, it said it’s designed to marque it easier for friends to coordinate and nexus up for hangouts. It besides lets users research location-based contented that their friends and favourite creators person shared oregon engaged with.

Regardless of whether you take to stock your location, you tin usage the representation to research location-based content, Instagram said.