If you’re chatting with someone and notice little eyes on Snapchat icons next to messages you’ve sent, this indicates that the other person has viewed your snap. The eyes will appear gray at first, and then turn blue once the other user has seen the snap or message. So the eyes let you know that your conversation partner has opened and read the chat.
The eyes on Snapchat only appear on messages and snaps you send directly to another user. In one-on-one chats, the eyes give a clear signal that the other person is actively engaged in the conversation with you. You’ll know if they’ve seen and digested what you said.
What Does the Eyes Mean on a Snapchat Story?
The eyes on Snapchat stories have a slightly different meaning than the eyes in one-on-one chats. Here’s a quick breakdown:
- In stories, the eyes do not indicate someone has viewed a snap. Merely viewing a story will not make the eyes change color.
- Instead, the eyes on stories represent how many people have viewed your story in total. The more eyes that are filled in, the more views your story has received.
- Eyes will slowly fill in over time as more people view your story. It’s not tracking individual friends, just a cumulative count.
- Tapping on the eyes icon in your story allows you to see a list of all friends who viewed it within the past 24 hours. But repeated views are not denoted.
- Friends will still be marked as viewers even if they just quickly swiped through your story without really watching.
- Your friends cannot see the eyes on your story – it’s only visible to the story creator as a high-level indicator of reach.
In short, eyes on Snapchat stories show the volume of views, not specifics about who watched like in one-on-one chat eyes. It gives story posters a simple gauge for how widely their content spread without exposing individual activity. The viewer list provides some accountability for engagement as well.
What Does the “Peek a Peek Snapchat” Means?
A closely related feature to the viewing eyes is called “Peek a Peek”. This allows Snapchat users to briefly preview snaps and stories without notifying the sender that they’ve been viewed. When Peek a Peek is enabled in your Snapchat settings, you can tap on someone’s story or chat and take a quick look without the eyes icon changing color for the sender.
This gives you a sneak preview to decide if you want to fully open the snap. It’s helpful if you want to browse through multiple stories quickly without others knowing you stopped on theirs. However, be aware that while Peek a Peek hides your viewing from the sender, your friend will still see that you looked at their story if you have story views enabled.
How to Turn on Peek a Peek in Snapchat?
To activate Peek a Peek mode in Snapchat, just follow these simple steps:
- Open the Snapchat app and tap your profile icon in the top left.
- Go to the Settings menu by tapping the gear icon.
- Select “Spectacles” from the options.
- Under the “Peek a Peek” section, toggle the slider to the on position. This will enable the peek preview feature.
Now when you very briefly tap on snaps, messages or stories, the viewers won’t know you looked until you fully open the snap by holding your finger down on the screen.
How to Turn Off Peek a Peek in Snapchat?
If you decide you no longer want the Peek a Peek preview feature on Snapchat, turning it off is simple. Go to your Snapchat Settings by tapping your profile > gear icon.
Select “Spectacles” from the options. Under the “Peek a Peek” section, toggle the slider to the off position.Now very briefly tapping on snaps or messages in chats will instantly mark them as seen or viewed to the sender.
This disables the preview option and eyes will change color immediately when you tap, rather than requiring a full screen view. Remember, toggling this setting only controls whether you can peek at others’ snaps – it won’t impact if they can peek at yours.
How to See Who Watched Your Snapchat Story?
In addition to one-on-one chats, Snapchat also lets users post stories that can be viewed by multiple friends. Fortunately, there is a way to check who from your snapchat friends list has viewed the snaps in your story.
After posting your story, look for the viewer list icon at the top right of the story screen – it looks like a small icon of one person. Tapping this will open your story’s viewer list, where you can see individual avatars of everyone who swiped through your snaps.
If a friend replays your story again, their avatar will show how many times they’ve watched. This feature provides insight into who is engaging with your story posts the most. Keep in mind some friends may opt out of displaying story views as well.
What Is the Rewatch Indicator?
The rewatch indicator is another visual cue available on Snapchat stories. It allows story posters to see which of their snaps or story sections were replayed by viewers.
A circular arrow icon will appear on individual snaps within your story if someone rewatched that snap specifically rather than just swiping through. This arrow denotes the snap was rewatched rather than passively viewed in the standard story sequence.
It helps identify what content really grabbed someone’s attention to re-experience. Creators can use this information to better tailor the types of stories and specific snaps that resonate most with their audience. The rewatch icon only displays for the story creator – viewers cannot see it on other people’s stories.
How Do I Enable or Disable the Rewatch Indicator Feature?
By default, the rewatch indicator is enabled on Snapchat. However, you do have the option to hide it if you prefer not to expose which of your snaps got rewatched. Here’s how to modify this setting:
- Open Snapchat and tap your profile picture.
- Select “Settings” then scroll down and tap “Story Settings.”
- Under the “Story Controls” section, you’ll see a toggle for “Rewatch Indicators.”
- Toggle it on to keep the rewatch arrow icons visible. Or toggle off to disable displaying which snaps viewers rewatched.
- Your change will apply going forward to all new stories you post. Previous ones won’t be retroactively modified.
It’s a personal preference whether you want viewers to potentially feel shy about rewatching parts of your story if they know you can see. But the option is there to uncover repeat views of engaging content.
The Bottom Line
The eyes on Snapchat icons and other view indicators in Snapchat provide insight into user privacy and engagement. The eyes let senders know a message was seen, while Peek a Peek and rewatch features reveal more nuanced viewing behaviors. Understanding what these cues represent helps users better manage their Snapchat experience and relationship to the audience. Overall, the various viewing functions give a good balance of visibility and privacy within the ephemeral social network.
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Andrew Reeves is a content writer from USA with a strong background in blog writing. Starting his career in news writing, Andrew has built a broad portfolio, covering everything from feature writing to SWOT analysis of apps. When not at his laptop, Andrew can be found recording his podcast, taking selfies, or road-tripping.