Snapchat has changed a lot in the past few years. Frequent updates means the app looks and works almost nothing like it originally did. Snap, the company behind Snapchat, is so aggressive with making changes to the app that it can be hard to keep up with how Snapchat really works, even if you're a regular user. To make things easier for you and newbies, Pocket-lint has compiled this straightforward guide. By the end of it, you'll know every facet of the app. And when the next update arrives, be sure to check back here, because we'll explain that, too. Snapchat is a mobile app for Android and iOS devices. One of the core concepts of the app is that any picture or video or message you send - by default - is made available to the receiver for only a short time before it becomes inaccessible. This temporary, or ephemeral, nature of the app was originally designed to encourage a more natural flow of interaction. It claims to be a camera company. As such, it creates other products, including hardware, like Snapchat Spectacles,. Also, Snapchat is colloquially referred to as Snap. Snapchat even lets you store media to a private storage area. Other features include the ability to add filters and AR-based lenses to snaps and show your live location on a world map. But the key thing to realise about Snapchat is that it is all about instant communication through your. Prior to Snapchat, social media was very desktop-based, and it was all about accumulating data. For instances, you'd post statuses, tweets, photos, and videos, and you'd have a record of all those things online, so your friends could comment on them and you would all see them forever. Snapchat has changed that. It changed the way we communicate online. With Snapchat, you can quickly send a photo of yourself with a rainbow-puking AR lens applied to a friend, and after they open it, it'll disappear forever. Technically, they can screenshot it if they want, and reply back with their own photo or video response, which they can also broadcast to their story for friends and followers to see. There are so many uses for this app. What does all the lingo mean? Many reports and studies have claimed that the bulk of those users are millennials. They can tap through your story and watch every snap to experience your entire day. A reel can only be played back for 24 hours, after which, it disappears for good, though you can always save your entire story, or an individual snap from your story, to the Memory section - aka private storage - of your Snapchat to keep forever. Your Snapcode, which is similar to a QR code, can be located on the Profile screen. You can access it by tapping the ghost icon or your Bitmoji in the corner of the Camera screen. And you can find yours under your Snapcode located in the center of your Profile screen. The higher your score, the more you likely use Snapchat. In other words, you and that friend or friends have snapped each other not including chat messaging within 24 hours for more than one consecutive day. From sending a snap with a filter to sending 50 snaps with five or more pen colours, trophies encourage user interaction and content creation. To activate lenses, go to the Camera screen in Snapchat, then long-press on your face in the camera view, and lenses should appear in a row next to the capture button. Swipe around to select the lens you want, and then tap the capture button to take a snap with it. They appear in the same row as Lenses, but only when your camera is facing outward. You might see one that features your Bitmoji avatar, even. For instance, a current one shows our Bitmoji avatar mixing potions and chemicals while sitting at a desk. This animation is overlaid on the world around us and can be captured and then shared with our friends in a chat or followers via our story. Both Lenses and World Lenses are frequently changed by Snapchat, though popular ones are recurring. After you take a snap, swipe right or left on the preview screen to add coloured filters, the current time, local weather, speed overlays, or geofilters to your photo or video. After taking your snap and applying your first filter, you can press and hold and then swipe to add yet another filter, too. They encourage other users to share their experiences with friends and followers. On-Demand geofilters may also be designed and purchased by individuals or smaller companies and only become available when a user enters a specified location, such as a wedding or graduation venue. You can access the Chat section by swiping from left to right on the Camera screen. Well, Snapchat allows you to transfer money to friends, thanks to a built-in integration with Square Cash. You can access it from the Chat section of Snapchat. But first, you must enter your debit card information under Settings. The latest example is Memories. On Discover, you can find branded content made by Vice, Cosmopolitan, Daily Mail, ESPN, Tastemade, CNN, Buzzfeed, and more. It also allows you to scroll around an actual map to see where your friends are located. You can choose whether to share your location, of course. You and friends will be represented by Bitmoji. Like other features, Bitmoji are designed to encourage user interaction on Snapchat. Keep in mind that Bitmoji was its own, separate platform until Snapchat acquired it a couple years ago. How does Snapchat work? For instance, tap the pencil tool to draw all over, tap the text tool to add a caption, tap the sticker tool to add a sticker or Bitmoji, etc. This is the Camera screen. Now, how it looks and what options it shows may change over time, but generally, you will see a capture button at the bottom, with buttons to access your Memories screen, Chat screen, and Stories screen. At the top, you might also see options to access your Profile screen, Search screen, and maybe even turn on the flash or switch your camera view to front-facing. Anyway, primarily,
