Snapchat Launches Snap Map, a Location Sharing Feature

After being reported to acquire social map app Zenly, photo-sharing app Snapchat has introduced location sharing feature Snap Map on its platform.

The feature that lets you share your current location, which appears to friends on a map and updates when you open Snapchat, was rolled out on Wednesday to all iOS and Android users globally, TechCrunch reported.

"We have built a whole new way to explore the world! See what is happening, find your friends and get inspired to go on an adventure!," said Snapchat in its blog.

Once you have access to the feature in the app, you can choose to share your location with all your friends, a few friends you select, or you can disappear from the map at any time by going into "Ghost Mode" or not opening Snapchat for a few hours.

To access the Snap Map, you pinch on your Snapchat camera home screen. From there you can scroll around to see where friends are in your city or around the world.

Outside of the location-sharing element, Snap Map also gives users an alternative way to discover Story content beyond the well-worn Stories feed and the powerful "Story Search" feature.

Users can see "heat" colors on the Snap Map to see where lots of Snaps are being uploaded, which might indicate a concert or big event from which you'd want to explore Snap Stories.

Snap Map would compete with Facebook Messenger's "Live Location" feature. But because Snap Map only updates when you open the app, it's more geared toward privacy and saving battery life.