Ghost mode is a feature on Snapchat that allows users to temporarily disable the ability for others to see their location on the Snap Map. When ghost mode is enabled, friends will not be able to see the user’s location for the duration that ghost mode is turned on. Ghost mode can be enabled for different lengths of time, from 30 minutes all the way up to indefinitely. So what happens when ghost mode is turned on for 3 hours? Here is an in-depth look at the effects of enabling ghost mode for this duration.
Friends Won’t See Your Location for 3 Hours
The most direct impact of enabling ghost mode for 3 hours is that none of your Snapchat friends will be able to view your location on the Snap Map for that period of time. As soon as ghost mode is enabled, your Bitmoji will disappear from the map for all friends. Even if they are actively looking at the Snap Map, your location will not show up. This lasts for the full 3 hours that ghost mode is enabled. Once the 3 hours is up, your Bitmoji will reappear on the map and your location will once again be visible to friends.
So if you enable ghost mode at noon, your friends will not see your location from 12 PM to 3 PM. At 3:01 PM, your Bitmoji will pop back up on the map and your exact location will be visible again. This allows you to have 3 hours of location privacy from your Snapchat friends.
Friends Won’t Get Notifications About Your Location
In addition to your location not being visible on the map, enabling ghost mode for 3 hours also means that your friends will not get any notifications about your location during that time. Usually when you open Snapchat, friends might get notifications saying “so and so is at the park” or “so and so is traveling to the airport.” With ghost mode enabled, these notifications are temporarily suppressed.
So if you’re headed somewhere you don’t want your friends to know about, enabling ghost mode will ensure they don’t get tipped off by notifications about your location. You have complete location privacy for the 3 hour duration.
You Can Still See Friends’ Locations
It’s important to note that even though your location is hidden while ghost mode is enabled, you can still see the locations of your friends. The Snap Map works one way for location sharing. You get to choose who can see your location, but you can always see the locations of friends who have location sharing enabled.
So for the 3 hours that you have ghost mode turned on, you will disappear from the map for your friends but you will still be able to see where they are. You maintain the ability to creep on your friends’ locations, while they are blocked from creeping on yours!
Your Location History is Paused
Snapchat keeps track of your location history and uses it to populate the Snap Map and for other location-based features. When you turn on ghost mode, it pauses your location history from being recorded for the duration that ghost mode is enabled.
So for the 3 hours that ghost mode is on, Snapchat will not track or save your location history. As soon as it is turned off, your location history will begin recording again. But you will have a 3 hour gap where your movements are not logged by the app.
Improves Location Privacy
Not having your location tracked for 3 hours can improve your overall location privacy. It creates a gap in the history of your movements that Snapchat stores. If you go anywhere sensitive during that time that you don’t want recorded, it will not be logged.
This can provide peace of mind if there are certain places you go that you don’t want tied to your Snapchat account. The 3 hour break in location tracking enables this.
Can Affect Location-Based Features
On the other hand, pausing your location history for 3 hours can temporarily affect certain location-based features in the app. For example, Snapchat uses your saved locations to generate context-based geofilters. If you travel somewhere new during the 3 hours ghost mode is enabled, Snapchat might not unlock the geofilters for that place.
Location history also powers the Snap Map’s location recommendations. So you may not get suggestions to upload Snaps from places you visited with ghost mode turned on. There are some minor trade-offs from pausing location history.
Your Bitmoji Will Be Grayed Out
In addition to disappearing from the map, your Bitmoji will also appear grayed out on your friends’ Friend Lists while ghost mode is enabled. Normally your Bitmoji appears in full color and is animated when you are actively using Snapchat.
When ghost mode is on, your Bitmoji will turn grayscale and still. This is a visual indicator to your friends that your location is hidden. After 3 hours, your Bitmoji will return to full color so your friends know you have your location sharing re-enabled.
Signals You Have Location Sharing Off
The grayed out Bitmoji is a clear signal to friends that your location is temporarily hidden. It shows them at a glance that you have ghost mode enabled, without them having to check the Snap Map.
This can prevent friends from thinking the app is glitching if they try to view your location and find you missing from the map. The gray Bitmoji makes it obvious on the face of it that you have deliberately turned off location sharing.
Could Raise Questions
On the flip side, some friends might see the grayed out Bitmoji and become curious about why you have location sharing disabled. They may wonder where you are headed that you don’t want them to know about.
The grayed out Bitmoji could inadvertently attract attention and raise questions. If you don’t want friends knowing you have location sharing off, it may be better to just refrain from opening Snapchat during the 3 hours.
Can Improve Battery Life
Having location services enabled is one of the biggest drains on smartphone battery life. The constant tracking of your GPS coordinates in the background uses a lot of power.
When you turn on ghost mode, it pauses the constant tracking of your location by Snapchat. This can provide a nice boost to your battery life for the 3 hours it is enabled, since your phone won’t be working hard to track your movements.
Saves Battery for Other Tasks
The battery power saved by having location tracking paused can be utilized for other tasks on your phone. You may notice apps and features running smoother with the extra battery.
Or if your phone is already low on battery, turning on ghost mode can help conserve the remaining power instead of it swiftly draining from location tracking.
Battery Savings Depends on Usage
It should be noted that the extended battery life is dependent on how heavily you use Snapchat. If you are actively using the app to view Stories or send Snaps, there may be less noticeable battery savings since you are still using power.
But if Snapchat is just running in the background, the battery boost from pausing location services for 3 hours may be more substantial.
Prevents Unwanted Viewing of Your House
One of the biggest concerns people have about location sharing on Snapchat is friends being able to view where you live by zooming in on the Snap Map.
With your house pinned on the map, some friends may be tempted to snoop on your address even if they don’t have bad intentions. Turning on ghost mode prevents this.
Keeps Your Home Private
If your Bitmoji disappears from the map for 3 hours, friends won’t be able to zoom in and identify your home address. Your exact location around your house will be hidden.
This gives you peace of mind that your home location will be completely private from your Snapchat friends during this time.
Prevents Dropping By Unsuspectingly
In addition to just viewing your house, hiding your home location also prevents friends from getting the idea to unexpectedly swing by your house. They can’t see that you are home and get tempted to pop in.
This avoids any awkward surprise visits that you aren’t prepared for or don’t want. You maintain full control over who knows you are home.
Lets You Move Around Freely
Knowing that your location is temporarily hidden from Snapchat can provide a sense of freedom to go wherever you want without having to think about who might be watching your movements.
Whether you simply want privacy as you run errands or want to visit somewhere without judgment from your friends, ghost mode enables this.
Go Anywhere Without Fear of Being Tracked
For 3 hours, you have the liberty to go anywhere in your city or town without worrying your movements are being tracked. This gives you flexibility in where you go and what you do.
Maybe you want to go somewhere that doesn’t align with your public persona. Ghost mode allows you space to do this privately.
Prevents Unwanted Opinions on Your Hangouts
Your friends also won’t be able to voice their opinions on who you are hanging out with or where based on your location. You avoid any unwanted or nosy commentary.
For example, if you go to the house of someone your friend doesn’t like, they won’t know to make judgments about it later.
Can Help Set Boundaries
Speaking of nosy friends, enabling ghost mode for 3 hours can be a tactful way to set boundaries around location sharing. Sometimes friends can become overly interested in your location.
Gives Space From Friends Who Monitor Your Location
If you have a friend who seems a little too invested in watching your movements, briefly turning on ghost mode gives you a break from that. It helps assert location privacy.
Rather than directly confronting them, ghost mode indirectly signals that you don’t need a play by play of your location from them.
Avoid Hurting Their Feelings
Because it’s a temporary timeout on location sharing, it’s less likely to hurt that friend’s feelings compared to outright unfriending them. You’re just signaling you need a short breather from the constant viewing.
Once the 3 hours is up, location sharing resumes as normal. But they may get the hint that you want less monitoring going forward.
Lets You Move Freely Without Notifications
In addition to friends not being able to physically see your location with ghost mode enabled, it also prevents the location notifications your movements trigger.
Avoids Distracting Notifications
If you’re trying to focus on work or school, location notifications popping up can distract you. Turning them off for 3 hours gives you uninterrupted focus.
You also avoid getting bombarded with notifications if you are out running errands all over town. The nonstop pings as you move around can be annoying.
Prevents Unwanted Attention
Location notifications also attract attention when you may want privacy. For example, if a friend gets notified you are at the clinic, they may ask if you’re okay.
Disabling notifications for 3 hours lets you move freely without unwelcome check-ins from friends about your whereabouts.
Can Cause Friends to Worry
While gaining location privacy can be advantageous, it’s worth noting that turning on ghost mode for an extended period of 3 hours may cause some friends to worry about your whereabouts, especially if they are used to tracking your location.
Friends May Assume Something is Wrong
When your Bitmoji suddenly disappears from the Snap Map without explanation, some friends might assume your location is hidden because something is wrong rather than because you want privacy.
They may jump to conclusions that you are trying to hide a situation that is troubling in some way when there is actually no cause for concern.
Can Prompt Unnecessary Check-Ins
Worried friends who are accustomed to monitoring your location may reach out asking where you are at and if you’re okay since your location is now obscured.
While these check-ins come from a place of care, they undermine the whole point of turning on ghost mode for privacy in the first place.
Can Cause You to Miss Out on Plans
Hiding your location for an extended 3 hour period can also cause you to miss out on potential social plans or meetups. Friends who may spontaneously invite you out based on seeing you are nearby won’t have that context.
Friends Can’t Coordinate Meetups
When friends have no idea where you are, they can’t conveniently coordinate impromptu plans. You may miss out on being invited to hangouts that come together based on location.
For example, if friends see each other near the beach, they may decide to go and won’t know you are close enough to invite along.
People Assume You’re Unavailable
Without your location visible, friends will also assume you are not nearby and unavailable to get together. So you may not get invited even to set plans since they think you’re far away.
If someone is looking for people to join them for dinner, they can’t base it on proximity and may not reach out.
Conclusion
Turning on Snapchat’s ghost mode can provide enhanced privacy, prevent unwanted dropoffs, help conserve battery life, enable you to move around freely, and subtly set boundaries with friends. But it can also cause worries, prompt check-ins, or make you miss social opportunities. Enabling ghost mode for 3 hours specifically blocks friends from viewing your location during that time frame while pausing location history.
The key is weighing whether the benefits of going incognito for a few hours outweighs the potential downsides based on how often your friends track your location. Overall, ghost mode gives you greater control over when and with whom you share your location.