It seems that everyone has their nose in their phone these days, and we've finally foudn the cause: Snapchat!
Being no longer the simple photo app it was back in 2011, Snapchat now lets you add geotags, filters, and everything in between. To me, Snapchat is a great way to bring you guys behind-the-scenes of PBTH, whether it's attending Fashion shows, launch events, discovering new restaurants, working on photoshoots and new campaigns... There's just SO MUCH you can now do with this super-addictive app.
And if, like myself you're always looking for ways to up your Snapchat game, here are 5 features you might not know but absolutely need in your arsenal…
Starting off strong with the sneakiest hacks of all times: Screenshot someone's snap without them knowing :O
I would like to begin this topic by saying this; I personally do not recommend screenshotting one's snaps as quite often, they are meant to be private and temporary. And yes, granted, although it's an individual's perogative to choose to upload risqué or compromising pictures to the photo/video sharing app, there is a general code of ethic with Snapchat suggesting that there should be trust in between two users.
Which is why, one of the greatest safety filters of Snapchat is the screenshot notification: users will be notified when someone screenshots their snap, and could ask them to delete if they so wished. But, for the sneakiest of'em all, there is also a way to bypass Snapchat's exposing safety filter...
1) When you receive a snap from someone, simply log on to Snapchat to load the video. DO NOT VIEW IT YET! Then, time to go offline; make sure you turn off bluetooth, WIFI and go on airplane mode.
2) Go back into the photo/video sharing app and click on the snap you wish to view and shamelessly screenshot… Open it, screenshot it and then KEEP VIEWING IT UNTIL THE END OF THE TIME LIMIT SET BY YOUR SNAPCHAT MATE. Once the snap ends, double click on the "Menu" button (middle bottom on all generations iPhone) and hold the home button (located on the right side for iPhone 6 and up owners & on the top right side for iPhone 5S and older owners) to end up on the "Slide the Power-Off" screen. Do not close your iPhone!
3) Then, hold the "Menu" button for approximately 7 seconds to go back to your iPhone's menu screen and go back online by going off airplane mode and turning on the bluetooth and WIFI.
4) Go back on Snapchat and re-open the snap you just screenshotted as is you never watched it before (tryna' play it all so innocent..!). Let it run all the way through the end of the time limit set by your Snapchat mate (soon to be, no longer Snapchat mate!) and here you go! You've successfully screenshotted a snap without anyone knowing about it.
You sneaky you!
USE UP TO THREE FILTERS PER SNAP
1) Can't choose between giving your photo instant brightness, revealing that hot, new location you're scoping out and letting your friends know you're going 159 km/h? Thankfully, you don't have to make that difficult decision anymore ;) Snapchat lets you use up to three filters at the same time with a very simple trick...
2) To add a first filter (if you are a Snapchat rookie!), just swipe your finger left or right over your photo/video to rotate among them until you settle on one.
3) To add a second filter to a photo or a video your just shot, all you have to do is hold the screen with one finger and swipe left or right with another to find your second filter.
4) Repeat to add on a third filter but careful, if you're not holding the screen properly with one finger you might end up loosing all of your artwork and will have to start allover again.
One of the coolest tricks so far, and this one is only for the iPhone users (sorry Androids!), is the set-up of an Assistive Touch gesture to let you record a Snapchat video without having to hold down the capture button :O This one is great for users who feel strongly about imagery quality when recording and uploading a video to their story. It allows you to have a better control at what you're filming as well as more freedom of motion and movement.
1) Go to iOS SETTINGS, go to GENERAL, then ACCESSIBILITY. There, you will find all the options for ASSISTIVE TOUCH.
2) Under INTERACTION, go to ASSISTIVE TOUCH, which by default is turned off, and enable it. You will see a little grey square with round edges appearing on your screen, that's your Assistive Touch app button.
3) Once that's done, tap on CREATE NEW GESTURE. In the NEW GESTURE page, simply tap of swipe to create a custom gesture. A sequence of gestures will be combined into one multiple-touch gesture. To create a replica of the gesture we usually execute to record a Snapchat video, I simple held my finger on the screen and execute mini circle motions for 10 seconds (video time limit set by Snapchat).
4) Once you're satisfied with the new gesture you created, hit the SAVE button and NAME your new gesture.
5) Up next, open the Snapchat app and in the camera view finder, tap on the floating Assistive Touch app button you saw appearing on your screen during STEP 2. Hit CUSTOM (star icon), select your new custom gesture and drag it all the way to the camera button on which you can finally drop it.
The video will automatically start recording!
DRAW IN BLACK AND WHITE
To access the available colours, you're used to holding your finger on the colour palette and dragging it up or down. But to access black and white, you'll need to drag it toward the upper left corner of your screen (white) or the bottom right corner of your screen (black).
BONUS: If you fancy softer, lighter colours in general, try deciding on a colour scheme like reds, blues, greens, yellows, oranges or purples, and drag your finger from that colour scheme toward the upper left corner of your screen without going all the way to the white. You'll end up with some great alternatives to Snapchat's original fonts and colours!
ZOOM SMOOTHLY
Simply hold the Snapchat capture button as you would normally do to capture a video and, without letting go of the screen, gently move upwards or downwards to zoom in and out. In the first of two videos above, you can watch a demo of a Snapchat zoom-in using the pinching technique. As you can see, not the best results... Now see what happens in the second video when using the moving upwards motion; much cleaner and more still!
You may have noticed that the colour palette in Snapchat's drawing tool doesn't offer black and white but hey, we at PBTH love a challenge! No, no, it doesn't mean you can't access both of those colours, in fact, all it takes is a few quick finger maneuvers...
To access the available colours, you're used to holding your finger on the colour palette and dragging it up or down. But to access black and white, you'll need to drag it toward the upper left corner of your screen (white) or the bottom right corner of your screen (black).
BONUS: If you fancy softer, lighter colours in general, try deciding on a colour scheme like reds, blues, greens, yellows, oranges or purples, and drag your finger from that colour scheme toward the upper left corner of your screen without going all the way to the white. You'll end up with some great alternatives to Snapchat's original fonts and colours!
ZOOM SMOOTHLY
Next up, is zooming smoothly when capturing Snapchat videos!
Pinching to zoom in and out can be a little difficult when snapping a cool video and results may end up looking not so great. One thing I absolutely hate is having to watch a bad quality video in which the imagery keeps breaking. So we've found way very easy way to use the build-in zoom feature of Snapchat and obtain much better results...
Simply hold the Snapchat capture button as you would normally do to capture a video and, without letting go of the screen, gently move upwards or downwards to zoom in and out. In the first of two videos above, you can watch a demo of a Snapchat zoom-in using the pinching technique. As you can see, not the best results... Now see what happens in the second video when using the moving upwards motion; much cleaner and more still!
The post 5 Snapchat Features You Might Not Know Existed & Won't be Able to Live Without appeared first on PBTH **
