How to tell when someone is active on snapchat

Snapchat has many features that make it a great app, especially when it comes to transparency.

However, the app doesn’t have an online status indicator.

So, if you’re wondering how to see if someone is active on Snapchat, read on.

Can You See When Someone Was Last Active On Snapchat?

Snapchat can show you when someone was last active, if you’re friends with them on the app, if they’ve enabled location access, and if they’ve disabled Ghost Mode in the Snapchat Map.

Note that Snapchat users can disable location access at any time and can hide their location from anyone they choose.

How To Check Someone’s Snapchat Online Status

Although there’s no definitive way to know whether someone is currently online on Snapchat or not, there are some indicators that you can use to determine if someone is currently on the app and when they were online.

1. Chat (Check ‘opened’ timestamps)

One of the most obvious ways to determine when a user was online is to check the ‘opened’ timestamp in the chat.

When you open the chat with a friend on the app, you can see when that user opened your picture/video in the bottom left corner.

If they saw something you sent a few seconds or minutes ago, then they might still be online.

1. Snap Maps

The Snap Maps feature in the app shows users their friends’ current location.

As long as they haven’t enabled Ghost Mode (a feature that masks your location on the app), hidden their location from you, or prevented the app from accessing their location altogether, you should be able to see where they were the last time they opened Snapchat and when that happened.

To find out your friends’ status on the Snapchat map:

1. Open the app.
2. Tap on the location icon in the bottom left corner.
3. You’ll see a map with your friends’ avatars.
4. Under their name, you’ll notice a status bar on the Snapchat map indicating when they were last seen.

If the status reads ‘seen now’, it means the person is currently active on Snapchat. You can also see their status in chat, under their name, but only if they have their location enabled.

1. Send a Snap

If you’re friends with that user on Snapchat, you can try messaging them to see if they’re around.

To send someone a snap on the app:

1. Open the app.
2. Swipe right to access the Chat. You can also tap on the ‘Chat’ icon in the main menu at the bottom. 
3. Find the person that you want to reach out to in the list or click on the ‘New Chat’ icon in the bottom right corner.
4. Swipe from left to right on your friend’s name to open the chat thread 
5. Tap on their name.

If their Bitmoji avatar appears in the lower-left, it means they’re reading your message and are currently online.

1. Snapscore

The Snapscore on Snapchat indicates how active a user is on the app. 

To check someone’s Snapscore:

1. Tap on your Bitmoji in the top left corner.
2. Head over to the ‘Friends’ tab and then long-press the name of the user. 
3. Tap on their name again when the pop-up appears.
4. The number of their snaps will be displayed under their name.

Although this can’t tell you their exact Snapchat active status, you could use it to see if a friend of yours on the app sent snaps between the last time you checked and now.

1. Story posts

The easiest way to check if someone is active on Snapchat and when they were last seen there is to check the Story feed.

When you open a friend’s story, you can see a timestamp under their name in the top left corner that lets you know when that story was uploaded. 

Note that if the picture or video was uploaded from the camera roll, the timestamp will show when it was taken rather than when the story was posted.

You could also enable all notifications from that user and receive alerts from the app when they post a story on Snapchat.

To enable Story notifications from a user:

1. Open the ‘Friends’ tab from the main menu.
2. Tap the three dots in the top right corner.
3. Select ‘Manage Subscriptions and Notifications’.
4. Tap the ‘Bell’ icon next to their name.

Bottom Line

If you’re wondering how to see if someone is active on Snapchat, the short answer is you can’t – Snapchat does not have an online status indicator that tells other users when someone is active on the app. However, you can check when someone last saw your snap or when they were last seen at a certain location.

Bojana is my name and writing is my game. I am a content writer from Bitola who is always interested in the latest research in almost all areas of life. I have a Bachelor’s degree in English literature and a perfectionist character, both of which help me find the most accurate data and information available. Although I have my head stuck in studies and reports most of the time, I still have a bit of free time during which I enjoy knitting and watching classic 90’s Disney movies.

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