Is the “Nearby Friends” option not showing or not working on Facebook and do you want to fix it?
This option helps you to share your location with one another.
“Location History” will also be turned on by turning on “Nearby Friends”.
If you don’t turn on “Location History”, “Nearby Friends” feature will not work.
This option used to be available on iOS and Android devices.
However, it seems to have gone missing/disappeared from the app of Facebook.
In this post, I will tell you why “Nearby Friends” is not showing or not working on Facebook and how to get it back.
Why can’t I see nearby friends on Facebook?
You can’t see nearby friends on Facebook because Facebook removed that option.
On 1st June 2022, Facebook has got rid of “Nearby Friends”, “Weather Alerts”, “Location History”, and “Background Location”.
The option was originally implemented to allow you to get in touch with your friends with ease.
Both of you, you and your friend have to turn the feature on for the feature to work.
Snapchat’s “Snap Map” and Nearby Friends feature are alike where you can see your friends’ locations.
Privacy has become more important in this modern era.
In fact, the largest companies including Apple and Google are moving towards a privacy-centric web.
Facebook is doing the same as they want to be more clear in terms of their data practices.
Michel Protti, the Chief Privacy Officer of FB stated that Meta aims to develop personalized experiences without undermining the privacy of its users.
To do this, the removal of the “Nearby Friends” feature is part of it, which prevents your friends from knowing your location.
How to fix “Nearby Friends” not showing on Facebook
To fix “Nearby Friends” not showing on Facebook, the only way is to download an old version of the FB app.
The reason behind it is that the latest version of the app will not support this feature now.
Unfortunately, this is only functional if you’re an Android device user.
- Remove the Facebook app.
- Go to this URL: https://androidapksfree.com/facebook/com-facebook-katana/download/.
- Tap on “Download” followed by “Download anyway”.
- Open the file and tap on “Install”.
- Open FB and the “Nearby Friends” feature will be available.
You may come across an error if this is your first time installing an APK file.
To prevent this, you need to allow “Install unknown apps” in your settings.
To begin with, go to Settings > Install unknown apps > Allow from this source.
You may also get a message indicating that the file might be harmful.
You do not need to worry because the site is completely safe.
Did Facebook get rid of nearby friends?
Yes, Facebook got rid of nearby friends on 1st June 2022.
Information that you’ve provided that was used for “Nearby Friends”, “Weather Alerts”, “Location History”, and “Background Location” will not be collected after 31 May 2022.
However, you still can download and view your location history until 1st August 2022.
After that, the history of your location will be permanently removed and you won’t be able to recover it.
Your information can be downloaded before 1st August 2022 if you want to know what Facebook has collected.
If you don’t use “Location History”, you don’t need to do anything because the information will be removed automatically.
How do I see nearby friends on Facebook?
You could enable or disable them at any time before the removal of “Nearby Friends” on Facebook.
The option will only work if you and your friend have turned on the option.
For instance, if you didn’t turn on “Nearby Friends”, the location of your friends will not be shown to you.
Similarly, if your friend turned off the feature but you didn’t, they won’t be able to see your location.
- Visit your settings and turn on “Location services”.
- Open FB and tap on the menu icon.
- Select “Nearby Friends”.
- Tap on the three dots followed by your name.
- Tap on “Settings”.
- Turn on “Nearby Friends”.
You can no longer use or see the “Nearby Friends” option if you have downloaded the newest version of Facebook.
The reason is that Facebook deleted it along with 3 other tracking features on 1 June 2022.
Final Words
In recent years, privacy and data protection have become a burning question for many companies.
Apps need your permission in order to track your activity for iOS version 14.5 and above.
You won’t be served personalized ads if you do not enable them to track your activity.
In 2023, Google has also pledged to remove third party cookies on Google Chrome.
The same is the case with the Facebook team as they frequently update their privacy policy.
They’ve also launched the Privacy Center to tell people about Meta’s outlook on privacy across their apps.
The deletion of Facebook’s “Nearby Friends” feature is part of its goal to better protect users’ privacy.
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Arsalan Rauf is an entrepreneur, freelancer, creative writer, and also a fountainhead of Green Hat Expert. Additionally, he is also an eminent researcher of Blogging, SEO, Internet Marketing, Social Media, premium accounts, codes, links, tips and tricks, etc.