18 Hidden Snapchat Hacks & Features You'll Wish You Knew About Sooner

 

How to Change Filters on Snapchat

After taking a picture, to change the filter simply swipe left or right over your photo to rotate among the filter options. To add a second filter to the photo, hold the screen with one finger and swipe left or right with another finger to find your second filter.

Snapchat, the one-to-one messaging app with more than 160 million daily active users, has earned a reputation for fast growth and innovation.

But despite its success, it isn't the most user-friendly app I've ever played around with. Many of its best features are buried so deep in the app that a lot of people don't even know they exist. In July 2017, Snapchat added even more features in their release of a new version, and some of these features have totally reshaped how people use the app in the first place.

For example, did you know that you can use Snapchat to make a live video call? Or that you can add emojis to your Snapchat videos -- and make it so they move and scale with specific objects? What about the trick where you can save data by turning the app on to "travel mode"?

Download our free Snapchat guide to learn how to use it for your business. 

There are a whole lot of cool things you can do with Snapchat that you may not have known about. But before we jump into them, it's important that you know the basics. For more on how to use the platform -- as well as a look at how HubSpot uses Snapchat marketing -- check out this post.

Already have the basics down? Read on for some more advanced tips and features.

Note: Before getting started, make sure you're operating on the latest version of Snapchat. At the time of posting, the latest version is 10.12.5.0.

18 Hidden Snapchat Hacks & Features

1) Use Snapchat for voice and video calls.

One of the biggest changes Snapchat made during an update in March 2016 was the addition of a voice and video chat feature. There are two ways you can use voice and video chats: By sending 10-second recordings (of your voice or a video of you), or by "calling" them to start a live voice or video chat lasting any amount of time.

The voice and video call functionality is located within Snapchat's chat feature, so you'll need to open up a chat conversation with someone to begin. If you've updated your Snapchat app, you'll see the phone icon and a video icon below the chat box.

To leave a 10-second voice or video message, hold down on the voice or video call icon and it will begin recording immediately. When you release the button by picking your finger up from the screen, the recording will stop and send immediately with no do-overs. In other words, make sure you're ready to record and send the voice or video message before you begin.

To start a live voice or video call, just tap the voice or video call icon and it'll begin ringing the other person immediately. If they don't answer within a few seconds, you'll see a pop-up notification asking you if you'd like to send a voice or video message instead. These voice and video messages are identical to the 10-second voice and video messages described above.

Here's a GIF showing what it looks like to live video call another user:

Also, remember that there's no forewarning once you tap or hold down on one of the icons -- it'll start ringing or recording right away. (I learned this the hard way when I tapped the video icon accidentally.) Otherwise, it's a very intuitive and easy-to-use functionality.

2) Identify any song playing around you.

If you’ve yet to download Shazam, the music recognition app, Snapchat’s got you covered. That’s right, you can Shazam songs in the Snapchat app.

When you want to identify a song playing around you, just hold your finger down on the camera screen. After a few seconds, a Shazam window will pop up with the song’s name and artist. From there, you can snap your Shazamed song to your friends and even add the artist as a Snapchat friend.