How it works
A private map for the people you actually know
Map My Friends runs in your phone’s web browser. Here’s everything it does — and the things it deliberately doesn’t.
Sign in with your UK mobile number
Open the app, type your mobile number and we send you a 6-digit code (usually by text). The code lasts 10 minutes. There’s no password to forget, and once you’re in you stay signed in on that phone for 90 days after you last used it.
The first time, you choose a name, a username and give your date of birth. You must be 18 or over. Your number is stored encrypted and is never shown to anyone — not even to your friends.
Add friends — both of you have to agree
Search for a friend’s username, or share your personal invite link or QR code. They send you a request (or you send them one), and nothing is shared until it’s accepted. You can decline without the other person being told.
If you want, you can let people who already have your number find you — this is off unless you switch it on.
Take a photo and choose how precise the spot is
Tap the camera, take a photo (or pick one from your gallery) and add a caption if you like. Then choose:
- Approximate (the default) — friends see the centre of the roughly 1 km square you’re in, not your exact spot.
- Exact — friends see exactly where you are, or where you drop a pin by hand.
- No location — it goes in your friends’ list view only, not on the map.
Your browser asks your permission before sharing your location, and only for that one post. We never read the location hidden inside photo files — we delete that information.
Friends see it on their map
Your post appears as a round photo bubble. The coloured ring around it shows how much of its time is left. Tapping a bubble opens a full-screen viewer where friends can flick through your current posts and send a single heart. Only you see how many hearts you got. There are no comments and no messages.
Then it’s gone
Posts disappear after 24 hours — or 7 days if you choose that in your settings (when the option is on). When a post expires its photo files are deleted from our server.
Things Map My Friends doesn’t do
- No live or background location tracking — the “Me” button centres the map on your last post, never on where you are now.
- No public profiles, public feed or follower counts.
- No comments, direct messages or group chats.
- No adverts and no tracking cookies.
Install it on your phone
On iPhone, open the site in Safari, tap Share, then “Add to Home Screen”. On Android, Chrome offers “Install app” or “Add to Home screen” from its menu. It then opens full-screen like any other app. The camera and location only work over a secure connection, which the site uses.