The biggest challenge that comes with a worldwide popular app like Instagram is to maintain its popularity by constantly updating its features.
This becomes a better task when new features are added from time to time and its existing features are improvised. This also involves removing the unnecessary features also. Just last week Instagram had added the much-required zoom feature to its iOS-based app and now it is all set to do away with the Photo Map feature. Instagram thinks that it is not required to have this feature as it is not widely used in the photo sharing platform.
The Photo Map feature primarily allowed the users to see the location from where the pictures have been clicked by other people while visiting their Instagram profiles. These locations are set over a world map. However, reports claim that Instagram has started to remove this feature from a few users’ profiles last week. There have been inputs from several users that they have not been able to see the Photo Map of other people. As of now, the users can apparently see their own Photo Map, which might as well be changed soon.
Why the Company Decided to Rip Off the Photo Map Feature
According to a statement made by Instagram to Mashable, it had decided to remove the Photo Map feature as it was not very widely used and the company prefers to focus on its other priorities.
The company’s spokesperson added in their reports to Mashable that this action of removing such an awesome feature will not be affecting the application’s API, which currently lets the companies or developers to tag the location information from the user’s public posts, even if the post does not have a location tag. Although the Photo Map feature has been pulled out, it is important to keep in mind that the geotags that are used for locations will not be disappearing from the app. The users can still add a location to a picture while making an individual post by clicking on the location tag and see other photos that are from the same location.
Instagram seems to be busy focusing on its competition along the lines of Snapchat, which is one of the apps that has been gaining momentum off-late and has put the former company in an unsafe position. Looks like Instagram is completely smitten by Snapchat as it has added features that have been inspired by the latter and has also removed certain features that might seem a little too complicated for the app.