You have probably heard about Snapchat or seen celebs hint you to follow them on the platform. Snapchat is a mobile app that allows users to send videos and pictures that self destruct after a few seconds.
On Snapchat you can take a photo or a video, add a caption or doodle, and send it to a friend or add it to your story to share with some or all of your friends. Friends can view snaps for up to 10 seconds, and then it disappears.
While that’s all fine and dandy, many people have been left confused by Snapchat. They can’t seem to understand why someone would send brief pictures or videos to friends if they can’t be saved. Well, they can be “saved”. And Snapchat has more to offer than what meets the eye. Below we’ve tried to compile steps to make it easy for you to understand how Snapchat works:
First let’s understand the lingo…
Here’s a quick breakdown of all the common terms and phrases used in the Snapchat world.
Snapchatters: Snapchatters are Snapchat users.
Snap: A snap is a photo or video taken with Snapchat. You can send a snap to a Snapchatter (or multiple snaps to multiple snapchatters), but it can only be viewed by the recipient for a limited amount of time (1 to 10 seconds).
Snapback: A Snapback is a reply to your Snap.
Story: A story is a snap you can mass-send to friends. Recipients can view it an unlimited amount of times in 24 hours. You can also send multiple snaps to your story in one day. They’ll be compiled to create one story.
Scores: Your Score is the total number of Snaps you have sent and received. It appears next to your name in friends’ contact lists and vice versa.
Chat: Chat is a feature that lets you privately message with friends on Snapchat.
Here: Here is a sub-feature within Chat. It lets you broadcast live video and audio to friends while chatting.
How does Snapchat work?
https://youtu.be/pZeDPfHiBC8
We’ll be the first to admit that Snapchat is so simple it’s almost confusing.
The app’s main screen is your camera view and that can be initially a little jarring or weird to navigate around. Try to remain calm however and keep reading to learn exactly how Snapchat works.
By the time you’re done browsing our mini tutorial, you’ll be snapping like a 14 year old.
Main screen
First thing’s first: Download Snapchat (it’s free) and create an account and user ID. Once that’s done, the app will always open and show your camera view straightaway. The camera view actually serves as the main screen.
The top left-hand corner has a Flash button for toggling your camera’s flash, while the top-right hand corner has a camera button for toggling the camera between front-facing and rear-facing mode. The center area is your camera view.
On the bottom of the camera view there is a big round camera button in the center for taking a picture or video (aka Snaps). Hold the camera button down to record a video with sound or tap the camera button to take a picture. Simples.
The bottom right-hand corner of the main screen has a three-line symbol that will display in numbers how many unread Snaps are waiting for you. Tap it to go to your Recents list, Discover area, or to begin viewing unread Snaps.
The bottom left corner has a chat notification button. You can tap it whenever you want to messages someone privately.
Adding Contacts
Swipe down while on the main screen to add contacts or tap the Snapchat logo at the top. Your Contacts screen should then open, with a settings symbol in the top right for going to Settings. The Contacts screen lets you view who has added you, add friends, and see friends in your contact list.
Swipe from the bottom to exit the Contact screen.
Now the Snaps
https://youtu.be/r4237MZIb8g
Making Snaps
While on the main screen, tap the large camera button to take a snap or hold down to record a video. Once you’re finished, a preview screen will appear with options for customising, adjusting length, sending the Snap, and more.
The preview screen has an X symbol in the top left-hand corner. Tap that symbol to get to the main screen. If you tap the customisation button, which looks like a pencil, in the top right-hand corner, you will then see colour slider.
Simply use your finger to select a colour and then start tracing or drawing whatever you want on the snap displayed in the preview screen. You can also tap anywhere on the prevoew screen to access your keyboard and add text, but only after you tap-to-close the colour slider. It’s pretty simple, actually.
When everything is ready to go, you will see a snap length button in the bottom right of your screen. It should be a circle with a number in it. The number represents how many seconds the recipient has to view your Snap. Tap it to adjust length time from 1 second to 10 seconds.
Next to the snap length button is a universal download symbol. If you select it, your snap will download to your device. The next symbol at the bottom of the camera view is for stories, but we’ll address that in a bit.
Sending Snaps
The only button on the preview screen that we haven’t discussed yet is the arrow-shaped symbol on the bottom right. Tap it to send your snap. More specifically, a send to screen will open. You will then need to select recipients. Once done, send your snap by tapping a second arrow button.
You might have noticed that one of the recipient options listed on the Send to screen said “My Story”. This option will add your snap to your Story, but again, we will discuss that below.
Viewing Snapbacks
To view your unread Snaps, go to the main menu screen and select the square symbol on the bottom left. A Snapchat feed of all your sent snaps and snap replies (aka Snapbacks) will be listed, including any new snaps from friends, and you can just tap any one to view it for a limited amount of time.
Remember: Snaps disappear.
So be ready to take a screenshot if you want. You will also see a list of your sent Snaps. An arrow icon will appear next to a snap if it’s been read, along with a notice about whether the recipient took a screenshot of your Snap. Handy, right?
From the Snapchat feed screen you can search fro snaps, go back to the camera view, and more.
The Stories…
https://youtu.be/gPzZevSbgGk
Sending Stories
To send a story, which is basically a snap that exists for 24 hours and can be mass-sent to all your friends, tap the story button from the preview screen. It’s right next to the download button. If you send a story, your friends will be able to view it an unlimited number of times in one day.
Another way to send a story is by simply taking a snap and then tapping the send button. But instead of selecting every friend individually on the send to screen, you can simply select the My story option.
You can also change who can view your stories under settings.
In addition, the interesting thing about the story feature is that you can add multiple stories to your story throughout the day. It’s like a visual journal of sorts that all or some of your friends can view an unlimited amount of times in 24 hours.
Viewing Stories
You can view stories by tapping the three-line button on the main screen.
You will then see a stories page, with a list of your contacts and maybe even recents if you have unread Stories. Once you view all the stories under recents, the recents category will disappear.
You can still find read stories however by scrolling through your contact list and finding the contact who posted a story. A story symbol will appear next to their name, and you can just click it to view that story again.
From the story feed screen you can also view Snapchat content and original programming via the Discover section.
Let’s get chatting
https://youtu.be/UvhiRIT5DvU
Viewing Scores
Scores are the sum of sent and received chats.
To view your score, tap Snapchat under the Snapchat feed screen. You will then see your sent and recieved score numbers individually. You can view friends’ total scores by tapping on their name in your contacts.
Chatting with friends
Apart from sending snaps and stories, you can also privately communicate with a friend by chatting.
To access the chat feature, swipe right on a friend’s name in the Snapchat feed screen, then enter text, and tap send on your device’s keyboard. While chatting with a friend, you can also send him or her a snap.
Just tap the yellow camera on the right of the text box to take a snap and send it to the friend (you can also select an image to send from your device’s photo gallery by selecting the small photo symbol on the bottom right).
