Snapchat is expanding its safety and connection features beyond the home. Following the launch of its “Home Safe” alert, the platform now introduces “Arrival Notifications.” This new feature allows users to automatically notify friends when they reach any destination, not just their residence.
Announced on Monday, Arrival Notifications enable users to set one-time or recurring alerts for specific locations. This provides an automatic way to share arrivals for everyday moments, such as returning to a hotel while traveling or arriving at a weekly class or meeting, without having to remember to send a message.
As with the Home Safe feature, these alerts can only be sent to friends with whom you have chosen to share your location. Snapchat emphasizes that location sharing on its Snap Map is off by default, and no one can see your location or receive an alert without your explicit permission. One-time alerts will expire after they are sent or after 24 hours.
To use the feature, you must first share your location with a trusted friend. Then, by tapping on the friendship profile and scrolling to “Arrival Notifications,” you can select a location on the map and give it a personal name, like “run club” or “piano lessons.” You then choose between a one-time or recurring alert, and Snapchat will notify your friend upon your arrival.
This development comes as Snapchat’s Snap Map, which launched in 2017, now boasts over 400 million monthly active users. Originally a tool for viewing friends’ locations and public snaps, Snap Map has evolved to also help users discover local hotspots and activities.
With these Home Safe and Arrival Notification features, Snapchat aims to further compete with other location-sharing services like the family app Life360 and Apple’s “Find My” network.