Snapchat has 265 million users daily worldwide. That’s about twice the amount of people as the entire population of Mexico. It’s not the most conventional social media, but one can’t deny that it’s one of the most prominent.
It’s easy to see why Snapchat is so popular. Snapchat emphasizes a temporary, visual-oriented form of communication, in a world where everything can feel very permanent. In a way, Snapchat returns us to the inconstancy of verbal communication: But do you know about Snapchat’s hidden features?
While Snapchat is relatively straightforward to use, there are tons of hidden tricks you can use to improve your experience and have more fun. This article will walk you through a few of these tricks.
1. Find Songs
Many people are aware of Shazam — the app that identifies songs that are playing from just hearing a little snippet, and tells you what song it is. It’s an incredibly useful tool that collects the great tunes you hear on an outing for you to recreate the experience in the days to come.
But did you Snapchat does this as well?
Snapchat features a Shazam integration option that many users aren’t aware of. If you’re in the app, tap and hold the viewfinder while a song is playing, and Snapchat will identify it for you. This is incredibly useful if you don’t have the storage for the Shazam app, or just simply want to grab a song immediately while you’re still on Snapchat.
2. Save Pictures/Videos
One of the key features of Snapchat is that its usage is ephemeral, deleting content that’s been shared after 24 hours. However, there are many ways to bypass this and save pictures/videos to enjoy later.
If you want to save someone’s message, picture, or Snapchat story, you can screenshot them. This will let the person know that you screenshotted their image, so make sure you get the person’s permission before you do this.
While screenshots only capture images, there are ways to save a video. There are several iPhone apps that can be downloaded on apple products or android products that you can use to save a video. These apps are usually called “screen recorder” apps.
Most screen recording apps are very simple to use. You press a button that features a camera to begin recording. It will give you a countdown and then start recording.
Once it starts recording, a screen recorder app will record everything that’s on your screen. Go to Snapchat, open up the video you want to record, and watch it. Make sure you don’t make too much noise because the video recorder will pick that up and taint the video.
For more information, there’s a great article over on Setapp about how to download snapchat videos. This article will give you more tips for apple products, and more options.
3. Disable SnapMap
Much like Tinder, Snapchat uses a feature GPS feature to determine when you are in the world. This feature is called the “SnapMap” and lets all of your friends know where you are with a little icon (your bitmoji).
However, not everyone wants their friends to see where they currently are. Turning off the SnapMap is relatively simple, but the SnapMap being on is the default state for Snapchat. Users may be turned off of this app because of this feature.
You needn’t get rid of Snapchat to hide your location. Simple drag in the SnapMap option from the side with two fingers, select the option “enable ghost mode”, and enable it “until I turn off”. This means the SnapMap won’t turn back on until you turn it on yourself.
4. Make a Call
Are you aware that you can make calls through Snapchat?
It’s true. Snapchat, just like Facebook, has a calling feature that you can use to communicate with your friends. You have options for video calls or voice calls.
Open up the “chat” feature of Snapchat. You should notice an icon for a phone and for a video. These will enable you to make calls with a person of your choosing.
If you hold down these icons, you can send voice memos or quick, savable videos. Though Snapchat is most famous for its pictorial communication options, you can also communicate orally in several ways.
5. Change the Color of an Object
Another great little-known feature of Snapchat is the tint brush option. There are many more ways to edit photos on Snapchat than most people realize.
Take a picture of an object. Then, select the tint brush option. Draw out the shape of the object, select the color you want, and the tint brush will do the rest of the work.
This is much like the “paint can” option in MS Paint.
6. Add or Subtract Sound
Many people watch their Snapchat videos with sound enabled. You can use this to your advantage, no matter what you want to create.
If you don’t want people to hear the sound going on, and instead want them to focus on the visuals, consider filing without sound. After filing a video, tap the speaker icon, and this will mute the video. This is especially useful at visuals you want to capture in busy streets, or at a party.
You can also add music to an otherwise boring video. Open up your preferred music app, play the song, and film your video over the backdrop of sound.
Use Hidden Features
Snapchat is a fun app that focuses on visuals to help people communicate with each other. However, that’s not all it does. While Snapchat advertises itself on its visual communication, there are many hidden features that can help you use sound, voice, color, and even music.
In the 21st century, technology is an important part of our lives. Make sure you’re using your social media to their fullest potential.
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