Instagram has just announced an update with some long-awaited features. The most notable one is the introduction of a location sharing tool for friends. Once enabled, the map shares the user’s last active location with selected contacts. Location sharing is disabled until it is selected, and there are many controls to customize it.
For example, Instagram users can share their location data with all friends, close friends, selected accounts, or no one at all. This data can be restricted if you are in certain places or with certain people.
It sounds and looks very similar to Snap Map from Snapchat, but without the cute emoji animations. This isn’t the first time Meta’s Instagram has turned to Snapchat for inspiration. The platform introduced Snapchat-like tags for adding friends and a Stories slideshow carousel that was almost identical to the one on Snapchat.
Instagram’s update, however, brought more than just location sharing. The platform has finally introduced the repost feature, which it first teased back in 2022 and then again earlier this year. It allows people to repost public videos and posts in the feed. These reposts will be recommended to friends and followers, and they are placed in a separate profile tab. Reposts are also automatically credited to the original poster, although users can add personalized notes.
Finally, Instagram is launching a new Friends tab in Reels. This allows people to see public content that their friends have interacted with. Meta started experimenting with this feature earlier this year, but now it’s being rolled out globally. I’m not interested in knowing what my friends are watching unless they specifically share something, but maybe that’s just me.
These tools are coming today and should be available to most users by now. Just check the app for updates.
