New Snapchat Features: What Parents Need to Know in 2026

Snapchat remains one of the most popular platforms among UK teenagers. Several recent changes are worth knowing about. The most significant change is the expansion of Snapchat's Family Centre. In an update announced on 22 January 2026, Snap said parents can see their teen's average daily time on Snapchat over the previous week and how it splits across features, and, when a teen adds a new friend, how they might know that person (mutual friends, saved in their contacts, shared communities). Family Centre also shows parents their teen's friends and who they have been communicating with (though not the content of messages). To use Family Centre, both the parent and child must opt in — it cannot be set up covertly. Snap also describes protections for under-18s that were already in place: friend requests from people a teen potentially does not know are not delivered, and a teen cannot be messaged by anyone they have not added as a friend or have in their phone contacts. Snap says location is not shared on Snap Map until the user opens the Map. The more recent announcements are narrower than they may sound. On 10 June 2026 Snap said it was beginning to roll out a friends-only profile for 13 to 15-year-olds' Stories and Spotlight videos, which changes who can see what they post, not who can message them. On 21 May 2026 Ofcom said Snap had agreed to prevent adult strangers contacting UK children by default (its report said the changes had not yet been implemented at that date), and on 8 September 2026 Snap said more than one million UK Snapchatters had been confirmed as over 18 through age assurance and that it was rolling out a notice for UK under-18s joining a group chat that includes someone who is not their friend. However, there are areas of concern. Snapchat's My AI chatbot — powered by artificial intelligence — is available to all users and can generate responses on a wide range of topics. Whilst safety filters exist, testing has shown that the chatbot can occasionally provide inappropriate advice or discuss topics not suitable for younger users. Parents should discuss AI chatbot use with their children and consider whether the feature should be restricted. Snapchat's disappearing messages feature remains a concern for many parents, as it creates a false sense of privacy. Children should understand that anything sent via Snapchat can be screenshotted by the recipient, and that 'disappearing' does not mean 'gone forever'. Recommended actions for parents: Set up Family Centre with your child's cooperation — this works best as a collaborative safety measure. Review your child's friends list to ensure they only have contacts they know in real life. Discuss the limitations of disappearing messages. Check whether your child is using My AI and discuss what it can and cannot be trusted to provide.