Snapchat now lets you inform others when you have arrived at your destination

After rolling out its “Home Safe” option, which lets users let friends and family know when they have safely reached home, Snapchat is now broadening that capability. The company has introduced a new feature that notifies selected contacts when a user arrives at destinations beyond their residence.

On Monday, the social media platform announced its new “Arrival Notifications” feature, which lets users set one-time or recurring alerts for various locations. This provides an automatic way to inform trusted contacts when they’ve reached specific destinations, without having to send a message each time.

In a company blog post, Snapchat explained that Arrival Notifications are built for everyday situations. For instance, the feature can automatically inform someone that you’ve arrived safely while travelling, or notify a friend when you arrive at a regular activity such as a weekly class, sports practice, or meeting — removing the need to remember to text.

Similar to the Home Safe function, Arrival Notifications can only be shared with friends whom users have chosen to share their location with. Snapchat emphasised that location sharing on Snap Map is turned off by default. No one can view a user’s location or receive notifications unless the user actively chooses to share that information. Additionally, one-time alerts automatically expire after delivery or after 24 hours.

To activate Arrival Notifications, users must first enable location sharing with a trusted friend they want to keep updated. From there, they can open the relevant friendship profile and scroll to the “Arrival Notifications” option. Users can then select a spot on the map and assign it a custom label. For example, someone might create a saved location for “run club” or “piano lessons.” After choosing whether the alert should be one-time or recurring, Snapchat will automatically notify the selected friend when the user arrives at that location.

The launch of Arrival Notifications follows Snapchat’s announcement last summer that Snap Map has surpassed 400 million monthly active users.

Originally introduced in 2017, Snap Map was a feature that allowed users to view friends’ real-time locations and explore public snaps from around the globe. Over time, it has evolved to include tools that help users discover local hotspots and find nearby activities and experiences.

By expanding its Home Safe and Arrival Notifications capabilities, Snapchat appears to be strengthening its position in the location-sharing space and competing more directly with platforms such as Life360 and Apple’s Find My service.