Don’t like the idea of Snapchat knowing where you are? Don’t you want your kids to be tracked or tracked while using their phones? Want to bring some privacy into your life? Here’s how to turn off Snap Maps on Snapchat.
Snapchat is working incredibly hard to add new features and increase its user base to challenge Instagram. One of the numerous features added this year is Snap Maps. It is a geolocation feature that allows you to share your location with your friends and adds another layer of interaction to the platform. While good in theory, the implementation isn’t all that rosy.
Many users and many more parent parents have expressed concerns about the ability to see where people are at any given time while using Snapchat.
What you need to know about Snap Maps
Snap Maps was introduced earlier this year as an additional geographic layer to Snapchat. The idea is that you can not only send snapshots and share every aspect of your life, but also show everyone where in the world you were when you took that photo.
Often apps with geolocation features show a rough area of where you might be. We are used to seeing an area perhaps up to a mile wide that the user could be in. Close enough to give you an idea, not close enough to spot the house numbers. Snap Maps is different. It shows other users exactly where you are and is precise enough to show the house number. While it doesn’t actually show your front door, it’s sensitive enough to have you up and running in seconds.
One of the most important things to know about Snap Maps is that it doesn’t always track. It only updates your location when using Snapchat. Close the app and your location is no longer updated.
Picture the scene: You wake up and have a great breakfast. These pancakes are so good that you take a snap to make your friends jealous. Now everyone knows exactly where you live. On the way to school or work, you saw a dog wearing a cute outfit in the park. You pull and upload. Now everyone knows which road you take to go to school or work. You get a portion of your lunch to show your friends how healthy you are. Now everyone knows exactly where you went to school or work. Get this job.
When Snap Maps is enabled, Snap Maps is updated with your location every time you send a snap.
Turn off Snap Maps on Snapchat
If this sounds totally intrusive, you’re right and I would recommend anyone turn it off if you’re unsure of using it. Here’s how.
Snap Maps is not enabled by default (fortunately), but if you want to try it and decide you don’t want it now, you should turn it off.
- Open Snapchat on your device.
- Open the camera and pinch the screen. Snap Maps should now appear.
- Select the gear icon in the top right to access Settings.
- Turn on Ghost Mode.
This much.
Alternatively, you can turn off GPS on your device so Snapchat doesn’t know where you are. This has the effect of disabling any geolocation services on your device and Snapchat will not work properly either.
Paste Maps
You have to wonder what Snapchat was thinking when they came up with this idea. ‘Why don’t we track all our users and show them exactly where they are on the map for all their friends to see’. What could go wrong?
Of course, your location is only updated when you Snapchat it. This is all the time for many young users. Only your friends or people you follow can see your location, but how many of us are really careful about who we consider as followers? Your exact location is shown so you can be precisely identified in a crowd or on a street full of houses.
You can change who can see your location. You can choose each of your friends or followers or specific friends, but you have to set this up manually.
Snapchat relies on geolocation to add their GeoFilters, but that’s on another level entirely. GeoFilters are passive, with Snapchat open you hit an active area and you can access the filter. Then you are not placed on a map for all to see.
Snap Maps is an optional feature, but it encourages you to do so. If you’ve already tried it and don’t like it, at least now you know how to turn off Snap Maps on Snapchat.
