Facebook ’s new feature , Nearby Friends , begins undulate out today . The opt - in app addition lets your friends know when you ’re airless by , with the option to show your exact location on a map , if that ’s the kind of affair you need to partake in with your acquaintance .
Making its direction to Facebook ’s Android and iOS app in the coming workweek , Nearby Friends gratefully work by reciprocal opt - in : you may only see friends ’ law of proximity if you give up yourself to be visible on Nearby Friends , though you may share your accurate position map with a friend without him or her have to do the same . And Nearby Friends will have the same multi - mode privacy options as your News Feed , earmark you to determine Nearby Friends updates to all , some , or none of your friends .
The accurate locating feature allows you and a selected Quaker to view precise map locations for a fixed menstruum of clip , probably to help you and your ally find each other in a crowd . After that fit fourth dimension expires , you ’re back to standard mode , where you ’re alerted when friends are close but not shown their exact map position .
When Nearby Friends rolls out to you ( assume you plow it on ) you ’ll see a list showing the ally that are geographically close to you who ’ve opted in to the feature article . The inclination admit length aside in mil increments , clock time of last locating update , and in bigger metropolitan areas , the name of the neck of the woods your friend is in . From the list , a button next to each friend will allow you to portion out and call for accurate map locations with a 40 reference message , and set how long you ’ll be seeable to them ( proceedings , hours , or until manually close off ) . The GPS - powered feature of speech will use your phone ’s accelerometer and shut off when you ’re stationary to try and minimize battery attractor .
Facebook is followingwhat ’s now become its standard practice , cause this new feature of speech a separate navigation app rather than folding it into an update to the chief Facebook app . ( Update : I was mistaken — Nearby Friends will be built into the chief Facebook app , though it seems like the sort of feature that Facebook could very easily break out into its own app in the future . ) It ’s also a reasonably direct guess at other location - base social media oblation from the like of Foursquare , not to mention the long - forgotten Google Latitude .
Facebooksays Nearby Friends will roll out starting today . permit us know if you see it pop up . Just , please , verify you ’re smart about who your partake in your locating with , and when . [ FacebookviaTechCrunch ]
update to clarify the permit requirements for accurate positioning , and to correct a myocardial infarction - statement about Nearby Friends being a standalone app .
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