With over 100 million daily active users, Snapchat has become one of the most popular social media platforms. The app allows users to share photos, videos, and messages that disappear after being viewed. While Snapchat’s disappearing content provides a sense of privacy, you may want to keep tabs on someone’s location for safety or other reasons.
Unfortunately, Snapchat does not have a built-in location tracking feature. However, there are a few creative ways to get around this limitation and view someone’s Snapchat location.
Using Find My Friends
If the person you want to track is an iOS user, you can take advantage of Apple’s Find My Friends app. Here’s how it works:
- Make sure you and the person are friends on Find My Friends.
- Open the Find My Friends app and tap on your friend’s name.
- You’ll see their location on a map if they have location sharing enabled.
The advantage of using Find My Friends is that it provides real-time location updates. As long as your friend keeps location sharing on, you can check their location at any time of day.
However, there are a few drawbacks to this method:
- Only works for iOS users who have enabled location sharing
- The person will get notified when you view their location
- They can turn off location sharing at any time
Overall, Find My Friends gives you limited ability to view someone’s Snapchat location. It only works if they have an iPhone and choose to share their location with you.
Using Snapchat Map
Snapchat’s Snap Map shows you where your Snapchat friends are if they have opted into location sharing. To try finding someone this way:
- Open Snapchat and pinch the camera screen to open Snap Map.
- Tap on “My Friends.”
- See if your friend appears on the map with their Bitmoji or avatar.
A few things to keep in mind about Snap Map:
- Location sharing is optional – your friend must choose to share their location.
- The location you see is not live – it can be from hours or days ago.
- Your friend will be notified when you view their location.
Snap Map gives you limited ability to see where a Snapchat user has been recently. But since it’s not live location, it won’t help you track where they are at any given moment.
Using Third-Party Apps
Several third-party apps claim they can help monitor someone’s Snapchat activity and location. Some examples include:
- mSpy
- FlexiSPY
- Highster Mobile
- uMobix
- Spyzie
These apps require you to install them on the target device (iOS or Android). Once installed, they can record data like GPS location history and shared media files. Some key points about using third-party spy apps:
- You’ll need physical access to the device to install them.
- They can be expensive – $10-40 per month.
- It’s illegal to install them without the user’s consent.
- Snapchat and Apple/Google actively block these apps.
Due to the legal risks and costs, most people are better off avoiding third-party spy apps. The few that do work will likely stop working with app updates.
Using Location Spoofing
Some apps like MockMock allow you to spoof or fake your phone’s GPS location. By setting a fake location and then opening Snapchat, you may be able to trick your friend into thinking you’re somewhere you’re not.
Here’s how it works:
- Install the spoofing app and set your fake location.
- Open Snapchat and Snap Map will show your spoofed location.
- Your friend may think that’s your actual location when viewing Snap Map.
The limitations of this method include:
- Doesn’t work on all devices or versions of Android/iOS.
- Can be confusing or alarming if your friend knows your real location.
- Snapchat may detect spoofing and ban your account.
In general, location spoofing is not very reliable and comes with risks. You also have to renew the fake location constantly to keep up the appearance.
Checking Their Snapchat Memories
Snapchat Memories contain your saved Snaps and Stories. Since Stories can include location data, checking someone’s Memories may reveal places they’ve been.
To try this method:
- Access your friend’s Snapchat account on their device.
- Go to Memories and look for location data on Snaps and Stories.
Of course, this requires having their username and password. And they’ll probably notice if you log into their account. But in theory, you could detect location clues from Memories if you can access their account.
Using Snapchat Usernames
Snapchat usernames can sometimes provide location clues. For example, a username like nycgirl123 suggests the user is from New York City.
Other location-related usernames might include:
- SoCalGuy
- VegasBabe
- MiamiGirl
If you’re lucky, their chosen username will reveal their city, state, or country. However, many usernames are random, so this method is hit or miss.
Asking Mutual Friends
If you and the person you want to locate have mutual friends, you can try asking those friends if they know the person’s location.
For example, you could say something like:
“Hey, do you happen to know where [person] is right now? I’ve been trying to get in touch with them today.”
With this approach you’re relying on your mutual friends either:
- Also being Snapchat friends and having location access.
- Physically being with the person and knowing their location.
Of course, the person may also not want their location known, so your mutual friends may decline to share it. Always respect people’s privacy boundaries when asking for location info.
Using Their Snapchat Context Clues
Closely viewing someone’s Snaps and Stories can sometimes provide context clues about their location:
- Landmarks in the background of photos/videos.
- Signs and street names that are visible.
- Mentioning a location in a caption.
- Events and venues they attend.
With some detective work, you may be able to piece together location clues based on the content they share. However, this requires them to actually post Snaps that reveal their location.
Checking Location Tagging
Some Snapchat users tag their locations on Snaps and Stories. To check for location tagging:
- View the Snap or Story.
- Tap and hold on the Snap to bring up details.
- See if there’s a location pinned.
Finding a tagged location obviously provides direct insight into where the Snap was taken. But users have to intentionally enable location tagging, so it’s not too common.
Using Snapchat Hacks
There are websites and forums dedicated to Snapchat hacks – ways to bypass restrictions and access private data. Some alleged hacks related to location tracking include:
- Decrypting Snapchat network traffic data.
- Modifying the Snapchat app code through rooting/jailbreaking.
- Exploiting Snapchat security flaws and bugs.
- Intercepting Snapchat authentication tokens.
A few disclaimers about Snapchat hacks:
- They are extremely unreliable and rarely work as advertised.
- It’s very illegal, especially if done without permission.
- You could end up infecting yourself with malware.
- Your accounts could get banned by Snapchat.
For these reasons, hacking Snapchat is not recommended for the average person. The risks nearly always outweigh any potential benefits.
| Method | Reliability | Legality | Chance of Detection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Find My Friends | Moderate | Legal | High |
| Snapchat Map | Low | Legal | High |
| Third-Party Apps | Low | Illegal | High |
| Location Spoofing | Low | Legal | Moderate |
| Memories | Low | Illegal | High |
| Usernames | Low | Legal | Low |
| Mutual Friends | Low | Legal | Moderate |
| Context Clues | Low | Legal | Low |
| Location Tagging | Low | Legal | Low |
| Hacking | Low | Illegal | High |
Conclusion
Unfortunately, Snapchat makes it very difficult to reliably track someone’s location without their consent. The legal and ethical options provide limited location visibility at best.
Methods like Find My Friends, Snapchat Map, and asking mutual friends can occasionally work. But they rely on the user choosing to share their location.
Trying to hack Snapchat or use third-party spy apps is illegal and puts your accounts at risk. For most people, the risks outweigh any benefits.
The only guaranteed way to track someone’s Snapchat location is if they voluntarily share it with you. If someone wants to keep their location private, respect that decision and don’t try to secretly track them.