Snapchat has launched new features for its Family Center, giving parents more insights into their teenagers' app activity. The updates, rolled out on January 23, 2026, allow parents to view how much time teens spend on the app and see details about new friend connections. The platform aims to balance teen privacy with parental oversight.[mediainfoline+1]
The Family Center, first introduced in August 2022, provides a way for parents to better understand their children's online interactions.It focuses on fostering open conversations about digital well-being within families.[mashable+3]
New Tools for Parental Insight
The latest enhancements to Family Center introduce several key capabilities for parents. Caregivers can now see the average daily screen time their teen spends on Snapchat over the past week. This includes a breakdown of time spent on different features like chatting, snapping, using the camera, exploring Snap Map, or watching content on Spotlight and Stories.This information helps parents initiate discussions about healthy screen time habits.[mediainfoline+3]
Another significant update involves new friend connections. When a teen adds a new friend on Snapchat, parents can now gain insight into how that connection might have formed. This includes seeing if they have mutual friends, if the new friend is in the teen's contact book, or which communities they share.These "trust signals" are designed to help parents understand their teen's social circle more clearly.[mediainfoline+2]
Snapchat also added the ability for parents to set content restrictions within Family Center. Parents can also disable access to My AI, the platform's AI-powered chatbot.The company plans to extend this control to the AI-powered search engine Perplexity in the coming months.[mediainfoline+2]
Balancing Privacy and Safety
Snapchat developed Family Center with input from families and online safety experts. The platform's goal is to mirror real-world parenting dynamics. Parents often know who their teens are friends with and where they spend time, but they do not typically listen in on private conversations.Family Center reflects this approach by providing visibility into connections without revealing the content of private messages or Snaps.[mashable+4]
To use Family Center, a parent or caregiver must have their own Snapchat account. They also need to be mutual friends with their teenager on the app. The teen must accept an invitation to join Family Center, ensuring they are aware of the parental oversight.Any parent, guardian, or family member over 25 years old can invite a teen aged 13 to 18 to join.[mashable+2]
Kathryn Carter, Snap's APAC general manager, emphasized the feature's role in fostering family dialogue. "Our Family Center feature will help parents get more insight into who their teens are friends with on Snapchat, helping foster positive conversations about online safety within families, while respecting the privacy and autonomy of teens," Carter said.[mashable]
Ongoing Evolution of Safety Tools
The Family Center also allows parents to view their teen's existing friends list and see who they have communicated with in the past seven days.Parents can confidentially report any suspicious accounts or concerning behavior directly to Snap's safety teams.This reporting mechanism is crucial for addressing potential issues quickly.[centerforonlinesafety+4]
Snapchat's approach differentiates itself from some other platforms. Unlike Instagram's Family Center, Snapchat's version does not allow parents to set time limits on app usage directly. Instead, Snap points to existing time limitation tools available on iOS and Android devices.However, Family Center does offer parents the ability to view their teen's location sharing settings on Snap Map and manage other privacy settings like Public Profile and birthdate.Location sharing on Snap Map is off by default for all users, and teens must opt-in to share their location with friends.[mashable+6]
Uthara Ganesh, Head of Public Policy, APAC Snap Inc., highlighted the company's commitment to digital well-being. "At Snapchat, supporting young people's digital well-being is a core part of how we build our platform. With the latest updates to Family Center, parents can see clear, practical information about how their teens spend time on Snapchat," Ganesh stated. "The feature is designed to help families have more informed conversations, while continuing to respect teen privacy."[mediainfoline+1]
Snapchat continues to build on Family Center, with plans for additional features. These include more content controls and the ability for teens to alert their parents when they themselves have reported content.The platform also offers educational resources and a safety checklist for both parents and teens to promote safer online habits.These resources encourage teens to connect only with real-world friends, choose appropriate usernames, use their real age, and understand location-sharing settings.The company emphasizes that reports are confidential and reviewed by its 24/7 Trust & Safety team.[mashable+3]
The expansion of Family Center reflects an ongoing effort by social media companies to provide tools that empower parents while respecting the autonomy of young users. This latest update provides more transparent data to parents, aiming to facilitate constructive dialogue and enhance online safety for teenagers.
