If you subscribe to someone’s public Snapchat story, they will not receive a notification or be aware that you have subscribed. Subscribing simply allows you to view their public story updates in your feed. Snapchat does not notify users of public story subscriptions. So you can subscribe without the other person knowing.
What happens when you subscribe to someone on Snapchat?
When you subscribe to someone’s public Snapchat story, here is what happens:
- Their public story updates will appear in your subscriptions feed in the Discover section of the app. You’ll be able to view their story just like any other Snapchat account you follow.
- You will remain subscribed until you manually unsubscribe. There is no expiration date on subscriptions.
- The person will not receive any notification that you’ve subscribed. They have no way of knowing who has subscribed to their public story.
- You can view their story updates as many times as you want while subscribed. Replays are unlimited.
- You will not show up as a friend or follower to them. Your Bitmoji or profile picture will not appear anywhere on their account.
- If they post to their story while you’re subscribed, their story will not say “Seen by” and your name. Stories only show “Seen by” for friends.
- You can screenshot or save their public story snaps. They will not be notified.
- Commenting is disabled on public stories. So you cannot comment on their snaps.
- Interacting and messaging will also not be enabled with a public story subscription.
Public Stories vs. Private Stories
It’s important to understand the difference between public Snapchat stories and private stories:
- Public Stories – These are stories that anyone can view and subscribe to, even without adding the person. Public figures, brands, and creators often have public stories.
- Private Stories – These are stories shared only with your Snapchat friends. To view a private story, you must be friends with the person on Snapchat. Subscribing to a private story will notify the user.
When you subscribe to a public Snapchat story, the creator has made that story open to everyone. So they expect that anyone can subscribe without them knowing. For private stories, things work differently.
What happens when you subscribe to a private story?
Private Snapchat stories work much differently than public stories:
- You must be friends on Snapchat to subscribe to a private story.
- The person will receive a notification when you subscribe to their private story.
- They can see who has subscribed to their private story.
- Your Bitmoji/profile pic will show up when you view their private story.
- Commenting is enabled on private stories among friends.
- You can send snaps and chats with friends who have private stories.
So while subscribing to a public story goes unnoticed, private story subscriptions will be known. The friend will see that you’ve subscribed as soon as you do it.
How to subscribe to someone’s public Snapchat story
Subscribing to a public Snapchat story is easy and only takes a few steps:
- Open the Snapchat app and tap on the Discover icon in the bottom menu.
- Browse stories and find the account you want to subscribe to. Their story thumbnail may have a “Subscribe” link.
- Tap the “Subscribe” link on their story thumbnail. If you don’t see “Subscribe”, tap their thumbnail to open the story.
- On the next screen, you should see a red “Subscribe” button. Tap this to subscribe.
- You will now see their public story updates in your subscriptions feed going forward.
Once subscribed, just go to the subscriptions feed anytime to see their story updates. You can unsubscribe at any time to stop seeing their public story in your feed.
How to find popular public Snapchat accounts to subscribe to
Here are some ways to find interesting public Snapchat accounts and stories to subscribe to:
- Browse stories in the Discover section. Look for accounts with a “Subscribe” link.
- Search for celebrities, musicians, athletes, brands, or creators you’re interested in. Many have public Snapchat stories.
- Check the profiles of people you already follow on other social platforms like Instagram, Twitter, YouTube or TikTok. Many link their Snapchat.
- Look up lists online of top Snapchat accounts. Various blogs and sites compile lists of interesting Snapchat users worth following.
- Ask friends for recommendations of Snapchat accounts they follow. Friends can suggest good stories to subscribe to.
- Search for relevant hashtags like #snapchat or #publicsnapchat to find accounts actively looking for subscribers.
Subscribing to a few great accounts can give you a constant source of engaging content in your Snapchat feed. The subscriptions feed makes it easy to keep up with their updates.
Can someone tell if you screenshot their public Snapchat story?
If you subscribe to a public Snapchat story, you can screenshot snaps without the creator being notified. With public stories, Snapchat does not notify the account when subscribers screenshot their snaps.
However, if you are friends with someone on Snapchat and view their private story, they will be notified if you screenshot their snaps. Snapchat sends a notification if friends screenshot your private stories.
So with public accounts, screenshot away without worrying! But be careful when screenshotting private stories of your connections.
Can you download and save public Snapchat stories?
Unfortunately there is no official way to download and save public Snapchat stories to your camera roll or device storage. The app is designed so all snaps, stories, and content disappears once viewed.
However, there are some third-party apps and workarounds that allow saving Snapchat stories:
- Some apps claim to allow video downloading from Snapchat. Be cautious as many are spam or malware.
- You can use screen recording on iOS or Android to manually record public stories.
- Screenshotting each snap in a story will let you save the images.
While Snapchat intends content to be ephemeral, those determined to save public stories have some options. But be wary of third-party apps claiming to download snaps.
Can you watch Snapchat stories anonymously?
Yes, if you subscribe to a public Snapchat story, you can view updates completely anonymously. The creator will not know you have subscribed or be able to see your info.
Viewing private Snapchat stories anonymously is impossible, since you must add the person as a friend first before getting access to private stories.
But for public figures, brands, creators or other accounts with public stories, you can subscribe and watch 100% anonymously as an unknown viewer.
Tips for using Snapchat public story subscriptions
Here are some useful tips for getting the most out of public Snapchat story subscriptions:
- Browse Snapchat Discover frequently to find new interesting accounts to subscribe to.
- Subscribe to Snapchat accounts related to your hobbies, interests and passions.
- Check the subscription feed often so you don’t miss any updates from accounts you follow.
- Feel free to unsubscribe from accounts if their content becomes less interesting to you over time.
- Subscribe to a good mix of celebrities, creators, brands, entertainers, artists and influencers.
- Use subscriptions as a way to get funny, meaningful or inspiring content in your Snapchat feed.
Following the right accounts can make checking Snapchat each day more fun. Story subscriptions let you customize your feed with great content.
In Conclusion
Subscribing to public Snapchat stories is a great way to follow interesting accounts and get entertaining updates without cluttering up your friends list. Because public story subscriptions are anonymous, you can watch safely without the creator ever knowing.
So don’t be afraid to tap that subscribe button on public accounts you want to see more content from. Just be mindful that private stories among Snapchat friends will always send a notification.