High school students are busier than ever, juggling classes, homework, sports, clubs, and friendships.  “Saturn - Time Together” is a new social/calendar app that many high schools are using to help students manage their hectic lives.  This calendar-based social media platform is popping up in many high schools across the country.  

In this app guide you will learn 1) what the Saturn app is and how students are using it, 2) why students want to use this new scheduling app, and 3) how to help your students safely use this latest app for time management.

Student, parent, & educator training video

(This student-friendly video can be shown in the classroom or at home)

Is the Saturn app safe for students?

• In August 2023 a viral post by 41-year-old Chris Cullum claimed that he was able to gain access to student information without verifying his account with a school email address (Source)
• It is unclear whether his claims are true, as SmartSocial.com researchers were not able to duplicate his experience, however Saturn has recently undergone a security update that strengthened their verification system and its possible that update fixed the security issue (Source)
• SmartSocial.com researchers attempted to verify a Saturn account without using a school email address and were unable to access student information or have the account verified
• While the Saturn app does not allow adults to create accounts, students are at risk of cyberbullying and other issues common with other social media networks

What is Saturn?

• Saturn is a calendar-based social media app that allows high school students to manage their busy high school lives
• Students can view and manage their schedules and share them with their friends
• Schedules can be viewed in real-time throughout the day including a countdown timer 
• The app allows students to manage their assignments, homework, and to-do lists
• Groups for clubs, sports teams, and other extracurricular activities can be created
• The chat feature allows students to message each other back and forth individually and within different classes and group chats
• Users can receive calendar reminders and notifications throughout the day
• Community event information can be accessed from the app
• Students can connect their other social media accounts such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Venmo
• Saturn hires unpaid, student ambassadors to help update school-specific information and report back to the company with any feedback from students
• Currently, the app only supports grades 9-12 and is for students and teachers only, although teachers have limited access to information
• Saturn is not affiliated with any particular school but does accept school email addresses to log in to place students in the correct school group
• The app is free to use, but the company has raised over $40 million with buy-in from popular investors such as actors, Ashton Kutcher and Robert Downey Jr (Source: Forbes)

Saturn is a time-based social network. We've built a calendar that is beautiful, simple, and social. Then we added your friends. - Saturn marketing

What is Saturn rated?

Apple App Rating: 4+

Google Play Rating: E (Everyone)

Saturn website

Community Guidelines

Terms of Use

Privacy Policy

Examples of Saturn in the news 

Saturn is replacing bulletin boards, flyers, screenshots of school schedules, and antiquated communication systems with a sleek and streamlined omni-platform solution across mobile and web that better serves the needs of today's teens. - Cision PR Newswire

Saturn brings high schools into its orbit by hiring unpaid student ambassadors, a strategy meant to make it feel by and for students, rather than administrators. - Forbes

Why do students want to be on Saturn?

• To connect with other students in their school
• To share information within different classes and clubs
• Students want to find all of the information about their school life and events in one place
• To help with time management

I think that the concept of Saturn - a chat and scheduling app for school - is a great idea, and I haven't seen it done better than here. You can quite easily set up a schedule of your classes, create events, and customize your calendar. You can communicate using both group chats and DMs, and the quality of these chats are just as good as any other messaging app. However, Saturn also adds you to a group chat for each class that you schedule, which is an excellent idea and was executed just as well. Overall, Saturn is a great platform to use if you're a student in high school. - Apple Reviewer

I use it for seeing how much time is left in my class, and how much is left in lunch, and if I’m using the bathroom, how much time I have left… - Student, Santa Clara High school

What can parents & educators do?

• Encourage students to report any bullying or inappropriate behavior or comments to support@joinsaturn.com
• Remind students to not share personal information in their calendar or messages, especially if their account is public
• Students have the option to choose if their Saturn account is private or public
• Public accounts can interact with their fellow classmates signed up with Saturn and share important school work information and notes as well as view other students’ schedules
• Private accounts will have their schedules blocked from others but will have the option to approve and grant access to  specific users to view their schedules
• Only those within the school’s networks will be able to view class schedules whether the account is private or public

Privacy/setting recommendations for Saturn

• Some students may want to use Saturn but desire more privacy
• Tap on the profile icon in the bottom right corner
• Tap “Edit Profile”
• Scroll down and turn off the “Schedule Visibility” tab

Conclusion

High school students are busier than ever and have found a scheduling app that helps them manage all of the chaos surrounding their school life.  Saturn is a good alternative to paper planners and gives students one central place to access the most important school information.  

Additional Resources

Hear Beth and Andrea talk more about Saturn in the MomTalk podcast