With Snapchat crossing 800 million monthly active users recently, the company wantsto refine and enhance features that keep the platform safe and relevant for families. In a Newsroom announcement, Snap Inc. stated that they are improving the Family Center in Snapchat with new location-sharing features aimed at helping parents stay connected with their kids. Family Center is an in-app hub offering parents tools and resources to manage their teen"s safety and privacy.
Now, parents can directly request their teens to share their live location, streamlining the process for everyone involved. Teens can also share their location back, keeping things transparent and simple.
Along with that, parents will get a better view of their teen’s location-sharing settings. They can see who their teen shares their location with on Snap Map, helping them have more informed discussions about privacy. This is part of Snapchat’s effort to make Family Center even more family-friendly while offering tools that make safety and communication easier.
A new addition, travel notifications, lets families set up alerts for up to three key locations—like home, school, or the gym. Parents will get notified when their teen arrives or leaves these spots, providing peace of mind throughout the day.
For safety, Snapchat continues to keep location-sharing off by default. They’re also adding reminders for users to review their settings when they add new friends, helping teens stay aware of who they’re sharing their location with.
Snap Inc. is not the only tech company releasing features related to parental control in their apps. YouTube, for instance, has rolled out a feature letting parents link their accounts to monitor their teen’s activity, such as video uploads and subscriptions. Other platforms are following suit with similar features aimed at giving parents more control and insight into their kids’ online behavior.
This year, Snapchat introduced editable messages, emoji reactions, and AI-powered tools like custom Bitmoji and AI reminders. Last year, they expanded their AI offerings with "My AI," a chatbot powered by OpenAI’s GPT technology, available to Snapchat+ subscribers.