Facebook is developing its own mobile location tracker, Bloomberg reports. According to two anonymous sources, the company hopes to expand its current tracking system (which currently allows for check-ins and geotagged posts) into a separate app that would track user location in the background and allow them to do things like find friends. From these early reports, it sounds much like Google’s Latitude, Apple’s Find My Friends, or other similar always-on location services.
Facebook reportedly planning friend-finding app that will track your location
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
The tool could also build on the ideas behind “find friends nearby,“ an old Facebook feature that allowed users to find friends who had posted location data near them, but with always-on tracking rather than check-ins. Given that Facebook has been trying hard to monetize mobile development, it could also be another way to leverage the value of its massive user base. Bloomberg says that the app development team is being led by mobile product manager Peter Deng, known for his work on Messenger, and includes members of Gowalla, a location-sharing app that was bought by Facebook in 2011. Though Facebook has apparently declined to comment, the app is said to be scheduled for launch in mid-March.
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