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Tech

31st Jan 2017

A new WhatsApp feature will make it far easier to find friends on a night out

What a great idea

Conor Heneghan

Handy for people who are constantly on the move.

WhatsApp are reportedly working on a feature that will allow users of the app to keep track of their friends and contacts (pending their permission) in real-time.

Amongst a number of new features spotted in the beta version of WhatsApp on both iOS and Android is one called live location tracking, which will enable WhatsApp users to share their location in real-time with their fellow WhatsApp contacts.

WhatsApp users can currently share a specific location with fellow contacts, but live-location tracking will enable their contacts to see exactly where they are for a predetermined amount of time (1, 2, 5 minutes or indefinitely); a handy tool if, for example, you’re trying to find out what pub your mates are in of a night out when they’re too lazy to tell you themselves.

The feature was spotted by WABetaInfo on Twitter earlier this month and, as is evident on the screengrabs below, it is likely that the option will be disabled by default if and when eventually introduced in an effort to maintain the privacy of those (of which there will no doubt be many) who would rather not activate the setting.

Live location tracking is just one of a number of new features reportedly being tested in the Beta version of WhatsApp; another, of course, is a feature that would reportedly allow users to edit or delete messages they’ve already sent… imagine how handy that could be of a drunken Saturday night?

Topics:

Tech,WhatsApp