Snapchat introduced a new feature called Friends Compass in their app with the latest update that rolled out a few days ago. If you are wondering what the Snapchat compass is, what info does it show, how to use it with your friends, and how to turn it off, then jump right in.

What is the Snapchat friend compass

Snapchat friend compass is a new feature by Snapchat that allows you to find your friends virtually. Unlike the previous maps feature that allowed you to view the distance between you and your friends, the friend compass allows you to find the exact direction that your friend is in. The feature will not only help you find your friends in public but also help you with random encounters in public. You can also get to know if you are pointing towards your friend or away from them using this feature.

How does friend compass work on Snapchat

Friend compass uses in-built gyroscope and location services to find the exact location of your friends. This is also used to find your location and direction in case one of your friends is exploring the area. You can use this feature to find your friends in public places without having to constantly be on the call with each other. You can simply use the friend compass feature which will lead directly to the person in question.

How to remove yourself from friends compass

While a great feature, some of you might find the new compass feature as an invasion of your privacy. If that is the case, then Snapchat easily allows you to disable this feature in several ways. Let’s take a look at the popular methods of disabling friend compass on your device.

Method 1: Turn off Snap Map inside Snapchat

Open Snapchat and tap on your profile picture in the top left corner.

Now tap on ‘Snap Map‘ at the bottom of your screen.

Select and enable Ghost mode for your profile.

Now that you have enabled Ghost mode, your friends will be unable to see your location. In case they want to access your location, you will be sent a notification upon which you can either choose to share your location with the concerned friend or deny it.

In case you want to turn the ghost mode off, here’s our guide.

Method 2: Turn off the location permission for Snapchat

Open the Settings app on your device and tap on ‘Apps and Notifications‘.

Note: Depending on your phone manufacturer, this could also be called ‘Manage apps‘ or ‘Third Party apps‘.

Now tap on ‘See all apps‘. Navigate to ‘Snapchat‘ and then select ‘Permissions‘.

Now disable the permission for your location services.

Exit and open the Snapchat app again and friend compass will now be disabled for you.

What does ‘Straight Ahead’ mean on Snapchat?

Users in your contacts that have turned on the compass for their Snapchat account get to show their location on the map in Snapchat. Their location is marked relative to your location using Snapchat compass which allows the app to point you in the exact direction of your contact. Often times, if you are pointing directly at them, Snapchat will show you the message ‘ABC is straight ahead!’ where ABC is the name of your contact.

‘Straight ahead!’ on Snapchat means that you are currently pointing in the direction of that particular contact. However, it does not show you the distance between you two — you could be in a different country thus, but at the least, you are pointing in the direction of your contact as far as Snapchat can see

Turning off the location permission for the Snapchat app can be a bit harsh as it may also mean missing out on various features of the app that depend on it.

We hope this guide helped you make the most out of Snapchat’s new friend compass feature. If you have any more questions, feel free to reach out to us using the comments section below.