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Think about your favorite Snapchats that you've ever opened. They're probably the ones that are more dynamic. They may also take advantage of the app's revolving selection of filters, stickers, and text options (we'd bet some face swapping shots likely rank in the top five).
Whereas Instagram is all about carefully curated moments, Snapchat is all about spontaneous creativity. "What makes Snapchat unique is how much more fun and playful it is," says Alex Ditty, the director of client operations at SEEN Digital Media, a marketing company that pairs brands with top social influencers for campaigns.
Since friends only have a limited period of time to admire your spontaneous moments, you want to make them count. While you might have already turned yourself into a scary rabbit or swapped faces, have you thrown confetti or put on a green filter? There may be some Snapchat trickery you didn't even know you could accomplish.
And if you haven't jumped on the Snapchat bandwagon yet, now's a great time: Snapchat officially passed Twitter in terms of daily active users. Plus, the app just introduced a new feature that makes it easier to gain followers (check out the last slide for info).
Whether you're a Snapchat newbie or practically a pro, click through for 14 of the coolest little-known — and recently added — Snapchat tools. Your Snapping game will never be the same.
This article was first published on March 18, 2016.
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Snapchat's Geofilters, which range from graphic city names to the date and time, are one of the easiest ways to let friends know where you are and what you're up to. Many people know how to add one (take a photo and swipe right to browse your options), but you can also add a second filter by holding the screen still with one finger and swiping with another — perfect for putting on a blue filter and pouring money on your head.
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There's no party like a Snapchat party: Now you can add celebratory filters on a friend's birthday (think confetti and other fun extras). Make sure you set up your own birthday by going to Settings and clicking Birthday.
Photo: Courtesy Snapchat.Clik here to view.
Snapchat has a limited number of filters (you access them the same way you do a Geofilter), but you can create some makeshift filters of your own. Select the pear sticker or another fruit. The edge of the fruit will serve as the filter — just keep enlarging the sticker until the entire border covers the screen. Now you can really go green.
Photo: Courtesy Snapchat.Clik here to view.
The color palette doesn't show black and white, but there's still a way you can use them. Start with your finger on the palette and drag it toward to the upper left corner to draw with white or the bottom right to draw with black (it's perfect for decorating a donut tower).
Photo: Courtesy Snapchat.Clik here to view.
A carefully constructed story isn't something to throw away; it can actually be preserved! Tap the three dots on the far right of the screen to bring up the download button to the left. Your happy, silly, and crazy memories are now preserved in your Photos, whether you want to share them elsewhere or keep them for your eyes only.
Photo: Courtesy Snapchat.Clik here to view.
When you double tap the "T" button in the upper right corner you get cool letters, but words usually go over one line. To make words fit neatly on one line (or, however many you would like) just tap the text to edit it and squeeze your fingers from left to right. Doing so will resize what's there.
Photo: Courtesy Snapchat.Clik here to view.
You might rethink your Venmo account thanks to a partnership between Snapchat and Square that lets you send money through a chat in the app. Just go to your Settings, scroll down to Snapcash, agree to the terms, and add a debit card to your account.
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You probably know what the heart means, but ever wonder what the smirking face next to someone's name indicates? Go to your Settings, scroll down to Manage, and press Friend Emojis. Here, you can get all the details and assign different emojis to various titles (BFs, Mutual BFs, Super BFFs, and so on). Once you've done that, track down your so-called friend and ask why you're not Snapchat BFs.
Photo: Courtesy Snapchat.Clik here to view.
You can now add emojis to your video snaps. Insert an emoji and press down to get it to stick to an object or location in your video. Doing so makes the emoji automatically move, rotate, and scale with the object you pinned it to, the same way the app's photo-swapping and face filters do.
Courtesy Snapchat.Clik here to view.
You've been able to use stickers in chats for a while, but now you can also pin stickers in your Snaps. To do this, just "pin" the sticker onto an object in your video Snap, and your sticker will follow along with the motion of that object. The adorable sticker options include dancing pandas, llamas, and foxes.
Courtesy Snapchat.Clik here to view.
At long last, Snapchat has integrated Bitmoji. You can now send your personal emoji in chats and add them as stickers in your snaps. If you haven't created a Bitmoji account yet, download the app and do so. Then, go into your Snapchat settings and link the two accounts (this video shows how in detail). Snapchat hinted that more updates will be coming to Bitmoji within the app, so stay tuned.
Photo: Courtesy Snapchat.Clik here to view.
It's easy to find new people to follow on Instagram thanks to the app's Discover section, but much harder on Snapchat. Now, Snapchat, too, has a tool to make it easier to gain new followers and find interesting new Snapchatters. The Suggest button, first covered by TechCrunch, is a small arrow that appears when you hold down someone's name within your Stories list.
When you press the arrow, you can share the account with a friend (it will appear in your friend's account as a chat message). This means that you can ask your pals to share their favorite celeb accounts with you or you can ask coworkers and others to share your account so you can boost your followers.
Photo: Madeline Buxton.Clik here to view.
Thanks to the new Face Paint Lens filter you can create your very own filter. Select the filter from the list of premade ones (it comes towards the end, just before the Face Swap options) and start drawing. It's hard to create a true Snapsterpiece, but the app will save what you've drawn for next time, so you don't have to start from scratch again if you don't want to. Put those middle school art skills to work.
Photo: Courtesy Madeline Buxton.Clik here to view.
First came the Geofilters, then came Geostickers! Snapchat created stickers that celebrate various iconic cities around the world. You can use them in snaps and chats to add some local flair. The stickers are currently only available in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Honolulu, London, Sydney, Sao Paulo, Paris, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but hopefully more cities will roll out in coming months.
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