The red heart on Snapchat is not just a decorative badge. It is a server-side calculated relationship intensity indicator, awarded when two accounts maintain each other as their top exchange for a continuous duration. Understanding its technical workings allows us to distinguish between what belongs to the classic friendship algorithm and what is part of the Snapchat+ system, where red hearts follow a different logic.
Red heart in the friends list and Snapchat+ red hearts: two distinct mechanics
The red heart displayed next to a username in the friends list is based on the longevity of exchanges. For it to appear, two users must have been each other’s most contacted friend (in terms of snaps sent and received) for about two consecutive weeks. Before this threshold, the yellow heart (Besties) is displayed.
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If this relationship extends beyond two months, the red heart is replaced by two pink hearts (Super BFF). The progression thus follows a linear path: yellow, red, pink.
A common confusion exists with the red hearts visible on certain planets in the Snapchat+ solar system, notably Mercury and Earth. Those hearts do not rely on the same timeframe. They are continuously recalculated over the last seven days, meaning a user may see the red hearts from their planet disappear without affecting the “historical” red heart in their friends list.
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An article discussing the meaning of the red heart on Snapchat explains this interface mechanic well.
Customization of friend emojis: what changes and what does not
Snapchat allows users to modify the display of the red heart in the friend emoji settings. A user can replace this symbol with a star, a diamond, or any other available emoji. This customization applies exclusively to their own screen.
The other person continues to see the standard red heart, as long as the algorithmic conditions are met on their side. In other words, changing the display does not alter the BFF status or the underlying calculation. Snapchat maintains the same ranking logic regardless of the symbol chosen by the user.
This point has a practical consequence: if you want to know if someone considers you their best friend, looking at your own display is not enough. The status is mutually exclusive by default (both accounts must rank each other at the top), but the visible emoji may differ from screen to screen.
Technical conditions to obtain and maintain the Snapchat red heart
The red heart does not appear randomly. Three conditions must be met simultaneously:
- Both accounts must send each other the highest volume of snaps (photos or videos, not chat text messages) compared to all other contacts.
- This top contact position must be maintained continuously, without interruption, for about two weeks after obtaining the yellow heart.
- The calculation takes into account individual snaps, not published stories or group messages.
Text messages and stories do not count in the algorithm for awarding the red heart. Only direct snaps (photos or videos sent one-to-one) feed the counter. Sending a story viewed by the person does not advance the BFF status.
Loss of the red heart: what triggers it
The red heart disappears as soon as one of the two accounts stops being the other’s top contact. In practice, if one of the users starts sending more snaps to another contact, the red heart is replaced by a yellow smiley or disappears entirely.
The speed of this loss depends on the volume gap. A sudden shift (a new contact suddenly receiving a lot of snaps) can cause the red heart to disappear within a few days. A gradual shift will take longer to reflect in the interface.
Snapchat+ and the solar system: where red hearts stand in the planetary ranking
The Snapchat+ system assigns each subscribed user a “solar system” where their eight best friends are represented by planets, from Mercury (the closest, thus the most active) to Neptune. Mercury displays red hearts around the planet, visually signaling the top position in the friendship ranking.
Earth, in third position, also uses red hearts in its visual representation. Other planets use stars, moons, or other graphical elements.
The fundamental difference with the classic red heart lies in the calculation window. The solar system is based on a sliding window of seven days, while the red heart in the friends list incorporates a longer history. A user can therefore occupy the Mercury position in a contact’s solar system without the classic red heart having appeared yet (if the relationship has not reached the required two weeks).
Distinction between Snapchat+ subscribers and free accounts
Free accounts do not see the solar system or the planets. They only have access to classic friend emojis (yellow heart, red heart, pink hearts, smiley, flames). The planetary system is reserved for Snapchat+ subscribers, creating an asymmetry of information between the two parties in a relationship.
- A Snapchat+ subscriber can know exactly where they stand in the ranking of their friends thanks to the planets.
- A free user only has the visible friend emoji in their list, without additional granularity.
- The red hearts of the planets and the classic red heart coexist but do not always synchronize, due to different calculation windows.
The red heart remains, in both systems, a marker of reciprocity. Neither display customization nor the Snapchat+ subscription alters the basic criterion: two accounts exchanging the most direct snaps, over a sufficient duration, in an exclusively mutual relationship.