On a Nintendo Switch, you can mark certain friends as your ‘best friends’. These people are your core group of trusted friends. Here’s what a best friend is and how to take full advantage of the special status in Settings.
What does the “Best Friends”
; feature do?
The “Best Friend” status on Nintendo Switch is partly a way of making a friend a “Favorite.” It’s a way to mark your best friends on the Switch so that they always show up at the top of your friends list. Your best friends are starred in their icon on your friends list.
Best Friends status also allows you to share your online status and play activity with only a core group of trusted friends if you make certain changes to your settings.
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Make someone a best friend on Nintendo Switch
Making someone a best friend is easy on the Switch. First, the person you want to give “Best Friend” status to must be a regular friend. So if you haven’t already, add him as a friend first.
Once the person is friends, press the “Home” button to navigate to the Home screen. Go to your user profile by selecting your player icon in the top left corner of the screen.
Select ‘Friends list’ from the sidebar menu of your profile page. Then scroll through the friends list on the right side of the screen and select the person you want to make a best friend of.
Below the friend’s name, you will see the ‘Best Friends’ option. Select it and press the “A” button.
The star is filled in, indicating that the player is now marked as a best friend.
Press the “B” button to go back one screen. Back in the friends list, you will see that all best friends have a star in the top left corner of their player icon.
You will also notice that any friends marked as “Best Friend” will always appear at the top (or at the top) of your Friends list before regular friends. Would you expect a little less for a best friend? I do not think so!
How to share or view statuses, activities, and invites only with best friends
Now that you have a best friend (or several), you can discover some of the advanced benefits that being best friends can bring. For example, the switch allows you to share your online status or play activity with only your best friends. That way, only your core group of friends will know when you play on your Switch – and what you’ve played on it. Here’s an overview of each option and what it does.
If you want to show your play activity (the list of games you’ve played recently) only to your best friends, open your profile page (your avatar icon on the home screen) and go to User Settings> Play Activity Settings. Select “Show Play Activity For” and choose “Best Friends.”
To only let your best friends know when you are online, open your profile page and go to User Settings> Friend Settings. Select ‘View online status in’ and choose ‘Best friends’.
If you only want to see popup notifications when best friends go online (but no other friends), go to your profile page and go to User Settings> Friend Settings> Friend Notification Settings and choose “Notify When Friends Go Online.” Select “Best Friends Only” in the list that appears.
And finally, if you only want to see invitation notifications from Best Friends games, go to your profile page and navigate to User Settings> Friend Settings> Friend Notification Settings and choose ‘Invite Notifications’. Select “Best Friends Only” from the list.
As you can see, setting up (or being) a best friend can have major benefits on the Switch. It can be a way to filter out casual friends, keep some privacy, or reduce interruptions in notifications. Have fun gaming!