Facebook now allows users to share their exact location on a map via Messenger, in just a few simple steps.
Rival chat services such as Google Hangouts, Viber and WhatsApp have been allowing users to share their location for some time now. Facebook Messenger, meanwhile, would automatically display the city or area when a user sent out a message, as long as location services were enabled on the user's device.
Now, Facebook Messenger makes it easier to tell friends where you are — allowing users to share their location on a map, directly within a conversation. Here's how:
Send Current Location
First, open a conversation in the Messenger app. At the bottom, below the area where you type the text, you will see three horizontal dots near the microphone icon (not to be confused with the three vertical dots at the top right of the conversation).
From there on, tap Location to see a blue circle that displays your current location. To share it with your conversation partner, simply tap Send.
Pin a Location
Facebook Messenger not only allows users to share their current location on a map, but other locations as well, like a restaurant or a bar. To share a location other than your current one, you can either pin it by dragging the map so the red pin is on the right place, or look for a location by using the search bar below the map. When you find the location, tap it and hit Send. This ability to pin the location on a map could come in handy when you want to meet a friend but they need directions to get there.
Facebook also notes that users will see the air balloon-shaped location icon in the lower right, and tapping it will send their location in Messenger.
Lastly, the new feature will put users in complete control of how and when they share their location, the social media company points out. To send their location, users must tap on the location pin and explicitly choose to send their mapped coordinates as a message. The Facebook Messenger app settings also allow users to disable location services altogether if they so prefer.
