Snapchat has just released a new feature, and it’s one that can be taken in a few different ways. It’s Snap Map, and basically it’s a way to share and view peoples locations.
To activate Snap Map, just pinch to zoom out, and you can view any of your friends that are currently sharing their location with you.
In their short video showing the new feature (Now unavailable), it seems as it’s being advertised as a way to see where your friends are, so you can go hang out with them.
But at the same time, it’s very easy to accidentally share your location with more people than you want. This becomes a much bigger problem with a service such as Snapchat, as the majority of users are very young.
Fortunately, there is a setting in Snapchat where you can limit who can view your location. I would suggest turning this feature off completely, but it’s not a problem if it’s managed properly.
So here is how to fine-tune your privacy preferences in Snapchat:
1st Method – From Settings
- When viewing your profile in Snapchat, press the settings icon in the top-right hand corner.
- Scroll down to the section labelled “WHO CAN…”.
- Tap on “See My Location”.
- You can then choose any location sharing options from here.
2nd Method – From Snap Map
- When viewing the map using Snap Map, press the settings icon in the top-right hand corner.
- You get moved straight to the location settings, where you can choose any sharing options.
Location Sharing Options
When sharing your location in Snapchat, there are three different options to choose from (of course there’s also the option to not share it at all, by never enabling the feature).
- Ghost Mode (Location is hidden)
- My Friends
- Select Friends…
So you can either hide it completely, share your location with all of your friends, or just to a selected group. In some cases, “My Friends” is a completely fine option, but that only makes sense if you only add close friends. But if you like to add other people you don’t know very well, or you just want to completely sure who you’re sharing your location with, the latter “Select Friends” option is much better suited.
Extra Tips
- When using “My Friends”, any friends added will automatically be allowed to view your profile.
- When using “Select Friends…”, people you allow to see your location won’t be notified, they will simply be able to see you on their map.
- Your location is only received while you are using the Snapchat app, and apparently not in the background.
- Any location data is deleted after a few hours.
- To clear your last locations, toggle Ghost Mode on and off. This will clear your past data, but keep your sharing settings the same.
- The last tip – Just be careful who you’re giving your location to.