If friends don’t want you to know when they’re nearby, then Facebook probably shouldn’t be giving you a heads-up about their location either. But you know how technology creeps into every aspect of our daily lives without us even being wholly aware of it, right?
The Facebook Nearby Friends feature is thankfully an optional one. Meaning, your friends won’t find out when you’re within close quarters unless you want them to and vice versa. The update will be rolling out to Android and iOS users over the next few weeks.
How Nearby Friends works
You can be very specific about the people you want to be seen by and opt to have friends, close friends or just a selected set of friends notified about your location when you’re close by. When you turn off the feature, you will stop receiving alerts about pals in the vicinity.
Also, they won’t be able to see when you’re at hand. You know the way ChatON version 3.5 with Glympse permits you to share your current position on the map with people you know, for a set period of time? This option is part of Facbook’s new offering too.
Another element also lets people find out when their buddies are traveling. Nearby Friends can be toggled on or off by going to ‘More’ within the Facebook app, tapping the Settings icon and enabling ‘Location Sharing’ there. You can follow this link to find out more about using the feature.
Facebook’s Nearby Friends is going to be launched for iOS and Android users in the US only in the upcoming weeks. There’s no word about a global release as of now.