Snapchat Family Center
On Thursday, Snapchat announced exciting new location-sharing features for its Family Center, a dedicated in-app platform designed to provide parental controls and resources for families.
With over 350 million users engaging with Snap Map each month, the platform enables friends and family to share their locations, fostering safety and discovery of nearby places while exploring global content.
New Features for Family Engagement
The latest updates include:
1. Share Location Through Family Center
Parents and caregivers can now easily request their teen’s live location through a new button in the Family Center. This feature allows teens to reciprocate by sharing their location, ensuring everyone stays informed about each other’s whereabouts once they opt in.
2. Enhanced Settings Visibility
Soon, parents will gain insight into their teen’s location-sharing preferences, including which friends can access their location on Snap Map. This increased visibility is intended to facilitate meaningful discussions within families about privacy settings and responsible sharing.
3. Travel Notifications
Parents can set up travel notifications for up to three significant locations—such as home, school, or the gym. They will receive alerts when their family members leave or arrive at these designated spots, providing an added layer of reassurance regarding their safety.
4. Additional Safety Reminders
To prioritize user safety, location sharing on Snapchat is disabled by default and can only be shared with accepted friends. For those who opt to share their location with all friends, Snapchat will introduce reminders encouraging users to review their location-sharing settings when adding new friends outside their usual network.
These features are crafted to strengthen family connections and enhance safety while on the go, according to the company.
Availability and User Feedback
These new features are set to roll out in the coming weeks, and Snapchat encourages users to share their feedback to continue improving family engagement tools.