Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is removing a number of location-based functions from the social media site such as Nearby Friends, weather alerts and location history, according to a SocialMediaToday report Friday (May 6).
Social media analyst Matt Navarra posted a tweet with a screenshot taken from his Facebook notifications, indicating the site has begun informing users of the changes.
The report noted that Meta said the services won’t be available after May 31, 2022. At that time, the company will stop collecting the information used for those features, and all previously logged information will be deleted Aug. 1, 2022.
The report said SocialMediaToday asked Facebook about the shift, and the social media company said that it was removing the features as they weren’t often used.
“While we’re deprecating some location-based features on Facebook due to low usage, people can still use Location Services to manage how their location information is collected and used,” the company told SocialMediaToday.
Meta has been making several changes to its platform as of late, including its name change from Facebook last October.
PYMNTS wrote that CEO Mark Zuckerberg also recently hinted at a new smart glasses partnership with EssilorLuxottica, teasing the idea by posting a picture of EssilorLuxottica chairperson Leonardo Del Vecchio wearing a prototype of a neural interface wristband.
See also: Zuckerberg Hints at Upcoming Wearable AR Controller
Zuckerberg said this would “eventually let you control your glasses and other devices.”
Meta had previously said it was considering making a wristband to control augmented reality glasses, letting users interact with a virtual world with finger movements, and Zuckerberg was recently in talks with EssilorLuxottica about the concept.
EssilorLuxottica sells frames like the Ray-Ban Wayfarer model, which is embedded with tech that allows users to listen to music or take photos.
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