Snapchat now allows you to see where your friends are hanging out

Company recently acquired Zenly, a startup that creates a social map using GPS location

Zenly, a French startup that creates a social map using GPS location to show you where your friends are hanging out, was recently acquired by Snap, according to Tech Crunch.

The deal which was concluded in $200 million in cash plus additional stock awards was reportedly signed last month. The deal comes after Snap officially launched its map tool on Wednesday that lets you find your friends and see their location.




“It's easy to get started — just pinch to zoom out and view the Map! You decide if you want to share your location with friends, or simply keep it to yourself with Ghost Mode,” according to a post.

You can also share your location with specific users. For example, if you only want some of your friends to know where you are, you can create a separate list of users -- in the same way you can block certain users from seeing your story.



The tool uses Bitmoji – animated cartoon avatars users can personalise to depict themselves – as the markers on the map.



Rather than shutting down Zenly and merging it into Snapchat, Snap will allow Zenly to run somewhat autonomously much like Facebook allows Instagram to run.

So far, Snap and Zenly have declined to comment.