glancy vs. Zenly
Zenly was discontinued on February 3, 2023, but people still search for it. Here is what it did, and how glancy compares for anyone still looking for a replacement.
Zenly was a dedicated friend-location app, acquired by Snap Inc. in 2017 and shut down on February 3, 2023 after Snap chose not to integrate or keep funding it. It’s still one of the most-searched “alternatives to” queries in this space years later - this page is for anyone who misses it and hasn’t found a replacement yet.
What Zenly offered
Zenly’s standout feature was Ghost Mode with three precision levels per friend: exact location, a blurred position (roughly 10 m to 1.2 km off), or a frozen pin at your last known spot before enabling it. That per-connection granularity was more flexible than most apps that are still active today.
Where glancy compares
glancy’s approximate location setting covers the same core idea - exact or approximate, chosen per connection - and it’s actively maintained, unlike Zenly. glancy adds access notifications on top, which Zenly did not have: it never notified you when a friend viewed your location.
Moving on from Zenly
- There’s no data left to export - Zenly’s servers have been offline since 2023. Start by sending glancy connection requests to whoever was in your old Zenly circle.
- If per-friend precision levels were the feature you miss most, glancy’s exact/approximate setting per connection is the closest actively maintained equivalent.
| Feature | glancy | Zenly |
|---|---|---|
| Notifies on view | Yes | No |
| Access log | Yes | not stated |
| iOS ↔ Android | Yes | Yes |
| Approximate location | Yes | Yes |
| Time-limited sharing | Yes | not stated |
| Scheduled sharing | Yes | not stated |
| Pause sharing | Yes | Yes |
| Mutual connection required | Yes | Yes |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
Frequently asked questions
Is Zenly still available?
No. Snap Inc., which had acquired Zenly, shut it down on February 3, 2023, after deciding not to integrate or continue funding it separately from Snapchat.
