Facebook's latest feature helps you find Wi-Fi hotspots near you (FB)

pulse

July 3, 2017 12:56 PM

Running low on data? Need to find somewhere to work with your laptop? Facebook's got your back.

Facebook now wants to help you find nearby Wi-Fi hotspots.

The social network is rolling out a new feature that lists hotspots for connecting to the internet on its app around the world, it announced in a blog post.

Let's say you're running low on data, or mobile reception is poor in the area, or you need to find somewhere to work with your laptop. You just boot up the Facebook app, select the feature, and it'll show you a map of hotspots nearby— cafés, bars, museums, and so on — that you could visit.

It was previously tested in "a handful of countries" in 2016 — and now it is being officially launched globally. (It may not be available in your location immediately — it didn't appear when we checked on an Android device in London — but will in time.)

It's available on both Android and iOS, but it likely won't be exhaustive at first. Companies need to manually add their Wi-Fi network to the app (the same way they would their phone number or street address), and that won't happen overnight.

The feature is available in the "More" tab of the main Facebook app. The video below shows how it works:

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