6. You can add two filters at once
Do that, then keep your finger rooted on the display and flick with another finger and the first filter stays, overlaid by another one. This is particularly useful if you want to add a colour filter as well as one of the time stamp or geo-filters.
There’s a good chance the people you want to add on Snapchat are already in your Contacts list. Like online gaming or long car journeys with broken radios, it works best with friends. You can also add people by location, though. This one’s good for parties, although post-party Snapchatting has late-night drunken regret written all over it.
8. Adding, resizing and angling emojis
By using familiar two-finger pinch and twist gestures you can turn and enlarge all emojis, so they fill the screen if you like. They’re all drawn as vectors so don’t suddenly look blocky when you make them huge. In case you’re not already an emoji master, to add one you just take your Snapchat then tap the third icon from the right at the top of the screen, the one that looks like a part-folded piece of paper.
Want to be on the Snapchat cutting edge? It may also involve wading through bugs at times, but you should consider signing up for Snapchat Beta. This volunteers you into the guinea pig scheme: we’re telling it like it is. You’ll get hold of early versions of the Snapchat app, but the idea is that as well as getting to try out new stuff first, you’ll also have to put up with an app that doesn’t actually work properly yet.
10. Double-secure your Snapchat account
Go to Settings, then tap on Login Verification. This lets you enable security that will text a verification code to your mobile should someone try to use your account on another device. So if your phone suddenly receives an unsolicited Snapchat code, something’s up. From this area in Settings you can also ‘forget’ devices signed in to your account, which is important if you’re lending someone your phone or tablet.
Snapchat can’t afford to be slow. Our patience lasts for about 0.3 seconds these days. Not that we stuck around to test that. To get that quick-snap feel it pre-downloads content so there’s zero buffering when you actually tap on links. However, it uses a bit more battery and data, which is potentially bad news if you’re using the phone abroad.
12. How to add music to your Snaps
It’s not fancy, and some clever timing is required if you really want to nail the effect, rhythm-wise. But it’s a great way to outdo your friends’ amateur hour efforts. We don’t think this works with every audio app, but it does work with Spotify and a few others.
Ever noticed that some people have a neat little animated profile pic when their faces pop up? Making your own only takes a couple of seconds. From the main app screen, just flick downwards to bring up the Profile display then tap the yellow ghost graphic. This will bring up a shutter button.