Key Takeaways

• The Solar System feature on Snapchat, also known as Snapchat planets, lets you know if you’re one of the top eight closest friends of a contact. This ranking is based on how much you interact with each other.
• This feature is now turned off by default. To use it, you need to switch it on from the Snapchat+ feature management page.
• Don’t stress if you’re not on a friend’s solar system—real-life friendships matter more.

Snapchat’s Solar System feature for Snapchat+ users gives more insights into who you contact the most on the app. In this guide, we’ll explain how these Snapchat planets work and how you can check your position within your friend’s solar system.

How Do SnapChat Planets Work?

The SnapChat Solar System ranks your friendships by using the planets in our actual solar system to represent them. If one of your friends interacts with you the most, you’ll be their Mercury—the closest planet to the Sun. If you’re on Venus, you’re the second person your friend interacts with the most, and so on.

Snapchat’s Solar System feature uses all eight planets in our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The app only allows premium subscribers to check their position within their friend’s solar system. This feature is not available to free users.

What Do the Snapchat Planets Look Like?

Snapchat doesn’t explicitly mention the name of the planet you’re on when checking friendship profiles, so identifying the planet can be tricky. While spotting Earth, with its similar color to our real Earth, or Saturn, with its circular ring, is relatively easy, identifying the remaining planets may require looking at their colors.

Here’s how each planet looks, starting with Mercury in the top left and ending with Neptune on the bottom right:

How to Check Your Position on Your Friend’s Solar System

When this feature was first introduced, it was turned on by default. But after receiving criticism for causing anxiety among teens, Snapchat has changed it to off by default for new subscribers. So, if you want to use this feature, you’ll need to turn it on yourself.

To do this, tap on your profile icon in the top-left corner, then tap on Snapchat+. After that, switch on the toggle under Solar System.

To check whether you’re in your friend’s solar system or vice versa, go to your friend’s friendship profile by tapping on their Bitmoji in your chats. If you and your friend are among each other’s eight closest friends, you’ll notice a Best Friends badge with a gold ring around it. If you see a Friends badge instead, it indicates that you’re one of their closest friends, but they aren’t one of yours.

In terms of the Solar System feature, tap on the Best Friends badge to see your Snapchat planet. Your friend will appear as the Sun and your Bitmoji will be seated on one of the planets to indicate your position on their Best Friends list.

You can take a look at more tips and tricks to improve your Snapchat experience if you’re new to the platform and want to learn new ways to interact with your friends.

Should You Worry if You’re Not in Your Friend’s Solar System?

Snapchat assigns these planets based on the frequency of interaction between two people on the platform. If you’re not on one of your best friend’s solar systems (or they’re not on yours), it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not close to each other.

It simply indicates that you (or your friend) haven’t interacted much with each other or have interacted more with some of the other friends on Snapchat. This isn’t something you should stress about. If you’re among someone’s best friends in real life, that’s what truly matters. After all, some people may only communicate with each other on the app to maintain a Snap streak.

That’s all you need to know about Snapchat planets and how they operate. Now, you should be able to determine if you’re in your friend’s solar system, what position you’re in, and how to recognize each planet. Remember, if you’re not on any planet, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not their best friend. So, don’t let this feature strain your friendship.