Snapchat has expanded its Family Center with new tools designed to help parents keep tabs on their teens’ app use, without ever seeing private messages. The updates aim to give families a clearer understanding of digital habits while promoting open conversations about online safety.
Originally launched in 2022, Family Center was Snapchat’s first effort to give caregivers insight into how their children navigate the platform. Now, the platform is adding deeper insights and smarter features to make those insights more useful.
One of the most notable changes is detailed screen-time tracking. Parents can now see how much time their teen spends on Snapchat each day over the past week, broken down by activities. This includes chatting with friends, sharing Snaps, browsing Spotlight, watching Stories, or exploring Snap Map. The idea is not to police teens but to provide context for healthy discussions around screen time.
The second major addition is the friend connection context. In the past, Family Center simply showed a teen’s friends and recent additions. Now, it provides “trust signals” for new connections, for instance, whether the friend shares mutual contacts, appears in the teen’s address book, or is part of the same community. This helps parents feel more informed about who their teen is interacting with, without reading private messages.
Snapchat has also added educational resources, including short videos and guides, to help families navigate the new features and understand online safety better.
Importantly, Snapchat emphasizes that privacy remains central. Parents can see patterns, usage trends, and connection context, but the content of messages stays private. Existing Family Center tools, like content controls, location sharing, and reporting suspicious accounts, continue to be available, making this update a more complete safety hub for families.
Snapchat says the aim is to balance safety with trust, allowing parents to guide teens while respecting their autonomy online.