Snapchat's new feature lets you track your friend's location

Snapchat has launched a new feature named Map Explore that enables users to keep track of events, festivals, news updates with the help of their friends live location. The new feature, first reported by The Verge will be accessible only if your friend has given permission to share their location.

To access the feature, pinch to zoom out from the camera screen when you launch the app. Tap on new updates at the bottom of the screen, then swipe horizontally to scroll through updates from your friends and other content from Snap Map. If you want to delete your status or turn on Ghost Mode (which hides your location) tap on the settings icon in the top right hand of the map.

According to The Verge report, if a user has allowed Snap to share his location, it does not necessarily mean other followers can track where their friends are. Only when your friends are using Snapchat at a particular location, then the follower’s location gets updated.

Snap says that the Map Explore updates are based on how the locations of your friends change and update. The company notes that the Map Explore updates are “inferred from the locations they open the app at.”

The Map Explore feature will be rolling out gradually over the next few weeks.