Snappy is built around real friends, not public reach - and that matters most for the youngest people on it. This page explains the age rules built into the app itself: who can sign up, what changes for teen accounts, and how a parent gets involved.
1. Minimum Age
You must be at least 13 years old to create a Snappy account. Signup asks for your birth date before it ever asks for an email, and the app checks it against that minimum - there's no way to create an account that skips this check. If you're not old enough yet, Snappy tells you so, and sometimes how close you are.
2. What Changes By Age
Once you're old enough to sign up, your age still shapes how your account behaves:
- Under 13: Can't create an account at all.
- 13-15: Your profile starts private and stays that way - you can't switch it to public yourself. Only friends can message you directly; there's no message-request path in from people you haven't accepted.
- 16-17: Your profile also starts private, but you can switch it to public yourself at any time, the same as an adult account.
- 18 and over: No extra restrictions - the full Snappy experience.
3. Messaging Limits for Younger Teens
A 13-15 account can only be messaged by people it's already friends with. Everyone else's messages are blocked outright rather than held in a request inbox - there's no setting that opens this up, since it isn't a preference, it's a safety default.
4. Parental Approval to Go Public
A 13-15 account can still go public, but only with a parent's approval. From Privacy settings, they can ask a parent to link accounts:
- The parent needs their own Snappy account already - one they created before this request, and old enough themselves (18+) to be linked as a parent.
- The teen enters the parent's email from their own Privacy settings.
- The parent gets an email with a link to confirm the relationship, signed in to their own account.
- Once confirmed, the parent can approve the profile going public from their own settings - the teen still can't flip that switch themselves.
This step only applies to 13-15 accounts. A 16-17 account can go public on its own, and doesn't need a parent's approval.
5. Preventing Age Gate Abuse
Rejecting an underage signup attempt also flags that device, so someone can't just retype a different birth date and try again right away. That restriction eases over time rather than being permanent, since a shared family device shouldn't be penalized forever for one honest mistake.
6. Reporting a Concern
If you believe a minor is at risk, or you've found an account misrepresenting its age, please contact our safety team directly at safety@madebysnappy.com.
7. Changes to This Page
We may update these protections as Snappy evolves. Material changes will be reflected here.
8. Contact
Questions about child safety on Snappy can be sent to safety@madebysnappy.com.