Instagram has started testing a new feature that looks a lot like Snap Maps.
This allows Instagram users to post text and video updates to a map based on where they were shot. Share the map with friends and their updates will be displayed simultaneously. It’s basically Snap Maps, originally launched in 2017.
The current difference appears to be that Instagram’s privacy settings may be more limited. Meta spokesperson Christine Pai said users must select “specific groups” to share their location with, such as “close friends or just followers they follow.” edge. Snapchat allows public posting to Snap Maps.
Pai said the Instagram feature is currently only in “small testing” in a few markets. The tool is opt-in and includes controls for location sharing. “As always, we’re building this feature with security in mind,” Pai said. She did not immediately respond to follow-up questions about whether full public sharing would be provided or how long the post would remain available.
This map feature was first discovered during development in February, and was named “Friend Map” at the time. Then this week, some images of the feature started being released to the public. Pai did not say where the feature is currently being tested.
Instagram had a Photos feature back in 2012 that put all your images on a map, but the feature was entirely private—it couldn’t be shared with friends and could only contain your own images. It was a fun way to view a photo collection, but the company shut it down four years later, citing low usage.
If the Maps feature were widely rolled out, it would be a step back from what Instagram has always been good at: copying competitors’ ideas. Stories are from Snapchat, Reels are from TikTok, and if we call them Instagram features, threads are from Twitter. Now, it’s time to get back to Snapchat.
