For the better part of its 11-years-long history, Snapchat has survived without maps. It wasn’t until 2017 that the platform launched its own Snap Map to give users a visual track of the whereabouts of other Snapchatters. And while a majority of users adopted this change graciously, it wasn’t that useful to some. To change that, the platform kept updating and upgrading its Map to make it what it is today.
In today’s blog, Snapchat’s Snap Map will be the center of our discussion. If you’ve ever wondered about what happens to your Snap Map after you delete the app, stick with us till the end to find out!
Snap Map: Here’s how it works
Before we address your concern about the visibility of your location after deleting Snapchat, let’s bring you up to date with how Snapchat works.
Snapchat launched the Snap Map feature five years ago, in 2017. However, in its initial days, the Snap Map was not what it is today. Towards the beginning, this Map would only show a user where their friends are on the Map.
Fast forward five years and these Maps have evolved into something much greater than that. Today, you can see your friends on not only the Map but also all the public stories of any specific location you tap on.
To add to that, Snapchat has also opened its doors to all kinds of businesses (malls, gyms, cafes, restaurants, eateries, stores, and so on). From here, you can also extract the addresses and contact details of all the registered businesses, see their operating timings, and leave a review. Isn’t that just genius?
Can People See My Location on Snap Map if I Delete Snapchat App?
Now that you’ve gained the idea of how Snap Map works, we’ll dig deeper to fetch you the answer you seek.
If you’ve deleted the Snapchat app, will your location still be visible to your friends? Yes, but only for the first 24 hours.
You see, Snapchat needs access to your location in order to update it regularly on the Snap Map. Have you wondered how they access your location? If you go to Snapchat’s Help Center, you’ll learn that the platform can only keep track of your location when the app is running.
In other words, it only updates your location whenever you open the app. Moreover, your location on the Map has an expiration period as well! If you don’t open the app for more than 24 hours, your bitmoji will automatically disappear from the Snap Map.
Once you’ve deleted the app, you’ll have no way of opening it, which is why 24 hours later, your location will disappear from the Snap Map.
How can I turn off my location on the Snap Map
We’ve already established that deleting Snapchat’s app will automatically wipe you off the Snap Map after 24 hours. But is there any way to disappear from the Snap Map without having to delete this app? Yes, there most certainly is!
Snapchat values the trust of its users above everything else. Therefore, instead of enforcing Snap Map on them all, it has provided in the app a way to turn off the Snap Map if they want. Curious about how to use this setting? Just follow the step-by-step guide we’ve curated below to get it done!
Step 1: Launch the Snapchat app on your device.
Can you find the five icons arranged horizontally in the bottommost column of the screen? You’ll find yourself currently on the middlemost icon, which is of the Camera tab.
Step 2: Look towards your left, and you’ll find two icons:
The first one is a message bubble, which takes you to the Chat tab.
The second one is a location, which takes you to the Snap Map.
Tap on the location icon in the leftmost corner to go to the Snap Map.
Step 3: Once you’re on your Snap Map, towards the top right side of the screen, you’ll find three icons:
The first one is of a cogwheel.
The second, blue one is of a globe, which leads you to the Explore option.
The third, yellow one is of photos, which takes you to the Memories on Snap Map.
Tap on the cogwheel icon on the top.
Step 4: You’ll find yourself on the Settings tab next. There are three sections on this tab, and the setting you’re looking for in the first section, My Location, itself.
The first option here is of Ghost Mode with a toggle switch next to it. By default, this switch is turned off. And if you want to prevent your friends from seeing your location, you’ll need to turn it on.
Step 5: As soon as you tap on the toggle, a dialogue box will appear on your screen, asking for how long you want to Enable Ghost Mode?
Your options are 3 hours, 24 hours, and Until Turned Off.
Pick any option that aligns with your needs, and your job is done!
In the end
With this, we wrap up today’s blog. Before we take your leave, let’s do a quick recap of everything we’ve learned so far.
We began by discussing the Snap Map feature on the platform, and outlined its history and evolution into what it is today. Then, we moved on to explore the possibility of what would happen to your Snap Map when you delete the app.
Later, we also talked about how to disable your location on the Snap Map; above, you’ll also find a step-by-step guide curated to help you with the same.
Were we able to solve your query in our blog? If you have any further questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below!
Also Read:
