Snapchat Ad When Opening the App? 58 Reviews (2026)

If Snapchat just played a full-screen ad the moment you opened it, before you could see your chats or take a picture, you are not the only one. On the evening of 23 October, Google Play reviews started describing the same thing, and within eleven hours it was the subject of half of all the negative Snapchat reviews we could find.

We read every negative review from that window, in English, German, French, Spanish and Portuguese, to see what reviewers are getting, when it shows up, and whether paying for Snapchat+ stops it.

Quick Answer: Why Does Snapchat Show an Ad When I Open the App?

Since 17:30 UTC on 23 October 2026, 58 negative Google Play reviews say Snapchat forced them to watch an ad before they could use the app, 49 of them one star. 38 say the ad played the moment they opened Snapchat, 9 say it came when they opened the camera or tried to take a snap, and 4 say it appeared when they opened a friend's snap or tried to reply. 19 say they could not skip it or had to wait for a skip button, and 11 call it full screen. 51 were written from version 14.29.0.50. Two reviewers say a Snapchat+ subscriber got the ad too. Snapchat has not replied to any of them.

How We Counted

We pulled the 12,000 most recent US English-language Google Play reviews of Snapchat, plus the 3,000 most recent from each of the German, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese stores, 24,000 different reviews in all. The UK store returned exactly the same 3,000 reviews as the US one, so it added nothing. Snapchat holds 4.18 stars from 39,829,872 ratings on Google Play and 4.51 from 6,014,239 on the App Store. Every review below is from the Android app.

The newest reviews Google Play returned were from 04:44 UTC on 24 October. From 17:30 UTC on 23 October to then, there were 116 reviews of 1 to 3 stars. We read all of them, plus every negative review since 22 October that mentions an ad in any of the five languages, and kept the 58 that describe being made to watch an ad before they could open, use or get back to the app. In the same window, nine more complained about ads in general without saying that, and we left them out.

53 of the 58 came from the US store, 4 from the German store and 1 from the French store.

This Is New

Ads between stories, in the chat list and in Discover are not new, and Snapchat reviewers have complained about them for years. An ad before you can use the app is. In the 3,628 negative US reviews from 16 September to the afternoon of 23 October, 3 mentioned an ad when opening the app. Then, in the eleven hours that followed, 38 did.

The first one arrived at 17:30 UTC on 23 October. The reports peaked between 20:00 and 21:00 UTC, with 10 in that hour, and kept coming overnight.

What Reviewers Are Getting

Most reviewers describe a video ad that fills the screen as soon as Snapchat opens, with no way to tap past it at first.

got an unskippable ad when I opened the app. why the hell would I get an ad just for opening a messaging app?

ads before able to access the app. opened the app like usual got a full screen video ad that was only skipable after multiple seconds.

Are we so for real? It's not enough that we have ads in-between our messages with people/after each person's story/in the discover section, but now I have to watch one immediately when I open the app?!

It does not only happen at launch. Nine reviewers got it when they went to the camera or tried to take a snap. Two say it made them miss the picture they wanted to take.

put an ad before I could take a picture and missed the opportunity

I opened the app to take a snap of a time critical event. An add about Meta Raybans popped up. I missed the time critical event.

Ads everywhere. I went to open my camera after messaging someone and it wouldn't let me open it before forcing me to watch an ad.

Four got it while opening a snap from a friend or going to reply.

Just got an unskippable ad while looking at a snap a friend sent me....time to find an alternative app lol

The same reports came from Germany:

German

Werbung beim Start der App die man erstmal abwarten muss? Was soll das?

Three reviewers say the ad was for smart glasses, one of them naming Meta Ray-Bans. One says it was for Grok. One says there was no label telling them it was an ad, and one says the only way to get rid of it was to close and reopen the app.

Does Snapchat+ Remove It?

Not according to two reviewers in this wave. One says they already pay for a subscription and still got it, and another says their sister got the ad on Snapchat+.

Don't give me a full page unskippable ad especially when I already pay for premium!

Was okay for talking to people but ever since they put ads on everything its gone down hill. Today I got an ad upon just OPENING the app. Creepy too, wasnt able to click anything until the skip button popped up. I didnt even know it was an ad at first because there was no indicator either. Even my sister with snapchat+ got an ad, but theyre paying the subscription?? That is insane how money hungry can you get.

This matches what Snapchat+ subscribers have written since September: Snapchat+ does not remove ads, and going ad-free costs more on top. One reviewer in September said Snapchat wanted $15 more a month for it. We did not find a review in this wave from someone on an ad-free plan, so we can't say whether it stops the opening ad.

What Snapchat Says

Nothing. Snapchat has not replied to any of the 58 reviews, and in our sample it has not replied to a single Google Play review since 1 October. The newest version on Google Play is 14.29.0.50, the same version 51 of the 58 reviews were written from. There is no newer version to update to.

What You Can Do

Wait for the skip button. Four reviewers say a skip button appears after a few seconds. One timed it at five.

Don't subscribe to Snapchat+ to get rid of it. As above, two reviewers say subscribers got the ad too.

Leave a review. Snapchat doesn't reply to reviews, but the 58 reviews in eleven hours are the only public record of how many people this reached. Snapchat's notification settings have their own long list of complaints too, see Snapchat notifications that won't turn off. For another Snapchat bug that hit Android this month, see Snapchat videos turning green.

Other apps have pushed ads into places people didn't expect them, see Discord Quests ads, ads before alerts in The Weather Channel and PayPal's new home screen ads.

Read the Full Breakdown

You can read the full negative review breakdown for Snapchat on Android and Snapchat on iOS, or go to the Snapchat trust check and apps like Snapchat.