Instagram introduces feature that shares your real-time location with friends – here’s how to turn it off

The feature's addition has triggered some backlash from users on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). — Photo by Cedrik Wesche on Unsplash

Following reports on the new feature's development from earlier in March this year, Instagram has now introduced “Friend Maps”, a tool that allows users to share their real-time location with friends.

Similar to Snapchat's map feature, Instagram's version automatically updates a user's location whenever they open the app or view the map to see their friends' locations.

Automatically shared locations will only be removed from the map after 24 hours, assuming the user does not open the app again to refresh their location.

The feature's addition has triggered some backlash from users on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), with complaints highlighting the potential dangers posed by sharing up-to-date location information since Tuesday (August 6).

User @nasrommy warned against enabling the feature, saying "Why the heck people be sharing their location in instagram. I’m not gonna be sharing it if you’re not my best friends. So many weird people out there and you guys not scared? I’ve been stalked before, so never gonna put myself in danger."

Another user, @HazreenAbdul, questioned "why would anyone want to share their location on Instagram?", and expressed concerns about the violation of privacy, which is shared by several other prominent users on the platform.

Location instagram tu accurate gila sampai lorong rumah semua betul. Please please turn off the location sebab sangat BAHAYA!! — Belle (@NabellaAnuar) August 6, 2024

Rakan rakan di instagram, disable la siap siap share location kejadah kat instagram ni. Tekan invisible mode dan tamat. Share location dengan orang yang korang boleh percaya je ok. Bukan publicly macamni. Agak bahaya terdedah macamni and strangers boleh tau korang kat mana. pic.twitter.com/2Hg7l4tF5U — brgsjks (@brgsjks) August 6, 2024

Just a gentle reminder not to share your location using Instagram‘s new feature. Unless you are a business and sharing the location of your premise/event. — Imran Ajmain (@ImranAjmain) August 8, 2024

To disable the location-sharing feature, navigate to the chat page in the app and tap on the "Map" button in the Notes section. On the next screen, tap the sharing button at the top and enable "Invisible mode”.

For those who prefer to keep the feature on, users can decide who can view their location by selecting from mutual followers, those on their close friends list, or specific accounts, and they also have the option to hide their location from certain individuals.

For those who want to hide their location from the app entirely, go to the settings and find the "Device permissions" option. From there, follow the on-screen instructions to disable location services.