The Social Map Apps You Haven’t Heard Of

Location-based social networking has been an idea that keeps coming back. Some apps made big splashes before disappearing, others stuck around but never hit the mainstream, and a few got swallowed up by big companies.

Most people know about Find My Friends, Life360, Snap Map, and even Zenly (RIP)—but what about the ones that flew under the radar?

The Social Map Apps That Came First

Before today’s location-sharing tools, there were pioneers that tried to make social maps a thing. Some of them were ahead of their time, some were acquired, and some quietly disappeared.

Dodgeball (2000-2009) – One of the first true social location apps. Users could text their location, and it would alert friends who were nearby. Google bought it in 2005 and eventually replaced it with Google Latitude.

Gowalla (2009-2012, Relaunched 2023) – A check-in-based social map that let people share locations and leave notes for others. Facebook acquired it in 2011, shut it down, and it has since been revived with a more modern design.

Foursquare Swarm (2014-2018) – Originally part of Foursquare, Swarm turned check-ins into a way to track where you’d been and connect with friends. It was one of the first apps to gamify social location-sharing.

Google Latitude (2009-2013) – Google’s take on live location sharing before Apple and Snapchat entered the space. It was directly integrated into Google Maps before being discontinued in favor of more private sharing features.

Facebook Nearby Friends (2014-2022) – A built-in Facebook feature that let users share their location with select friends. It never became a core part of the platform and was later discontinued.

Each of these apps experimented with different ways to blend location and social networking, but they all played a role in shaping how we think about social maps today.

The Social Map Apps You Really Haven’t Heard Of

Beyond the big names, there have been smaller apps that tried to make social maps work in different ways. Some of them were hyper-local, some were niche, and some just never found the right audience.

Highlight (2012-2016) – An “ambient social discovery” app that ran in the background and notified you when someone nearby had mutual interests. It was a new way of thinking about social maps, focusing on connections rather than destinations.

Glancee (2011-2012) – Similar to Highlight, Glancee helped users discover people with shared interests nearby. It was acquired by Facebook, and its technology was later folded into other features.

Banjo (2011-2017) – Instead of focusing only on friends, Banjo aggregated social media posts from people in a given location, creating a real-time map of what was happening. It blended news and social location-sharing in a unique way.

Connect (2014-2016) – Pulled data from multiple social networks to create a single map of friends across platforms. It was an attempt to unify location-sharing instead of keeping it within individual apps.

MapHook (2010-2014) – A location-based journaling app that let users tag places and events with notes, photos, and links. It was an early version of blending location with storytelling.

What’s Next for Social Maps?

Even though some of these apps are no longer around, location-sharing is still evolving. Apple, Google, and Snapchat continue to improve their location-based features, and newer apps are emerging to reimagine what a social map can be.

Whether it’s for meeting up with friends, sharing travel experiences, or discovering new places, social maps remain one of the most exciting areas of digital connection. It’s only a matter of time before the next big one takes off.