Snapchat makes it easier to track and celebrate friends' birthdays

Snap is introducing a fun new way for Snapchat users to track and celebrate the birthdays of their friends. The company’s new Birthday Mini gives you one place to see a list of all the upcoming birthdays of people you follow on the app. You can either see them organized by how soon they’re coming up or by zodiac signs. The tool comes courtesy of the Minis functionality Snap introduced last summer. And as with all other Minis, you can find this one by tapping the rocket icon in Snapchat or by searching for it individually.

For privacy reasons, the Mini won’t display the birth year of your friend nor their exact age. Similarly, other Snapchat users won’t see that same information about you. You also won’t see the birthdays of friends who haven’t consented to display them in the app.

The Birthday Mini is the first one to include lens sharing, a feature that allows you to unlock special themed lenses you can send as snaps to your friends or include in your stories. When someone sees them in those contexts, they can swipe up to join the Mini. It’s a small feature addition, to be sure, but one that makes keeping track of everyone’s special day easier. Previously, Snap would indicate your friend was celebrating their birthday through an emoji in your friends feed. You can access the Birthday Mini starting today.