Facebook shuts down Nearby and other location features

Although it is not known exactly what the reasons that may have led to this decision are, we are certain that Facebook will close the Nearby Friends function and others related to the location of users.

This functionality gives any Facebook user the possibility, regardless of whether their smartphone’s operating system is Android or iOS, to share their current location with any of their friends on the social network.

But this is not the only tool that the app wants to remove. Although it is not known exactly when it will end, Facebook has also decided to end weather alerts, location history, and background location.

Fortunately, what they take away from us on one side, they offer to us on the other. Because nothing more and nothing less than 137 new emojis will soon arrive on Facebook and Messenger: strange faces, new gestures, and much more.

The thing is, if you’re a regular at using these features, we can only tell you to make the most of them for the time they have left. And it will not be much, because according to the company, they will no longer be available to any Facebook user as of May 31 of this year.

Some of this data, such as the map that gathers the places visited by each person, is collected from the user’s location history. And we have good news: it will be available for download on August 1, 2022. If you do not do it within the established term, you will lose it, since its elimination will be total.

However, and to the misfortune of many users, all this does not imply that Facebook is going to radically stop collecting the location of all its profiles. The social network will continue to collect this information for other experiences of the application, according to what they say.

User privacy is one of the fundamental aspects that a company must take care of. Unfortunately, this is not the case for platforms like Grindr, which was dedicated to collecting information from its users and then selling it.

If you don’t want Facebook to know your location, you always have the option to disable access through your smartphone’s settings. In case you need help, here‘s how to turn off location tracking on Facebook.

In short, enjoy Nearby Friends and the rest of Facebook’s location features for the next few weeks because you already know that as of May 31 you will not be able to continue using them.