Over the past few months, Snapchat has introduced a number of new features that have made the app even more appealing. It is worth noting that there are a number of features that are only available to subscribers of Snapchat+, which is the premium service offered by the app.
One of the most notable features of this app is the Ghost Trails feature. There has been quite a bit of attention paid to this particular feature in the past couple of months. So, let’s take a look at what it is, what else is available on the Snapchat+ subscription, and how you can turn it off.
What Is Snapchat+?
There is a subscription service called Snapchat+ where Snapchat users can get access to pre-release features as well as exclusive parts of the app before they are released to the general public. In Snapchat+, users have the ability to set custom expiration dates for their stories, rather than the standard 24 hour period that regular Snapchat users have access to.
A friend can also see how many times their story has been rewatched by their friends, customize their notification sounds, add colour borders to their story, and pin a friend as a BFF in other social networks.
What Are Ghost Trails On Snapchat?
In addition to Ghost Trails, Snapchat+ has another major feature that is currently available. As part of this feature, users will be able to see their friend’s location history for the past 24 hours. There will be a yellow line appearing on the Snap Map that shows the different locations the user has been to in that period of time along the route they have taken over that period of time.
There have been a number of concerns raised regarding the privacy implications of this feature. In order to prevent this from happening in the future, certain precautions have been implemented into Ghost Trails.
It is important to note that the feature does not work with all your friends, but only with those who have opted in to share their location with that user. A friend’s Ghost Trail will not be visible if he or she has not enabled location sharing for their account. It only takes a user a few taps on a person’s Bitmoji in order to access this feature.
How To Turn Ghost Trails Off
To turn Ghost Trails off, simply tap the Snapchat+ button at the bottom of the screen. You can toggle Ghost Trails off from there, as well as other features, by going to the settings menu. As you are no longer able to see Ghost Trails through your account, this simply means you will no longer be able to view them. In spite of this, you will still be able to see your own Ghost Trail.
When you want to turn off your location sharing, you can tap your profile icon and then tap the settings gear icon in your profile. When you reach the ‘Who can…’ section, scroll down to the bottom of the page until you reach the locations settings page, then click on it. You can choose whether you want your location to be visible to everyone, just your friends, or no one at all by going to the settings page.
Location Sharing On Snap Map Is Opt-In
There is an opt-in option available for all Snap Map users, meaning that users will only be able to share their location with their closest friends while excluding everyone else from seeing their location on the Snap Map. It is actually quite a thoughtful little addition, since it will enable users to keep an eye on their friends while still maintaining their privacy at the same time.
The other caveat here is that users will only be able to see Ghost Trails for friends who live in a country where Snapchat+ is available, which is another caveat here. The Ghost Trails feature is available on both Android and iOS, but users need to update their app to version 11.85 or newer in order to be able to see it on their devices.
If you want to see what a friend’s Ghost Trail looks like, you can tap on their Bitmoji on the Snap Map. To clear your own Ghost Trail, users need to toggle Snapchat’s Ghost Mode on and then off in order to clear their own Ghost Trail. In summary, Ghost Trails is a neat new Snapchat Plus feature that lets users keep an eye on their closest friends and track their location on a map if they have their permission to do so.
Furthermore, it is one of the many new Snapchat+ features that could make it a worthwhile subscription for Snapchat power users who wish to improve their Snapchat experience.