How to Use Snapchat for Noobies
Are you scratching your head because you don’t know how to use Snapchat? Those days are over because today, you’ll learn everything you need to know about navigating this hot social media app. Dive into the world of Snapchat! Learn how to use Snapchat lenses, and take advantage of new Snapchat features right now. Check out our Snapchat user guide below.
How to Use Snapchat for the First Time
1. Why signup for Snapchat?
Snapchat is a great app to have in your arsenal of social media. It’s the first app to offer those cute animated lenses (remember when everyone was throwing up rainbows?). If you’re not sold on the filters alone, you’d be glad to know that Snapchat is also a messaging platform. You can easily chat up your friends and make new friends, too!
Although the app is intuitive, there is a bit of a learning curve to use it compared to the likes of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter apps. It is confusing for first-time users, but once you know where everything is, mastering the app is as easy as 1-2-3!
2. How to Use Snapchat Sign Up
To be able to navigate through the app, you need to create an account. You can do this in two ways. First, you must register with an email address and provide a username and password of your choice. The other way is to log into your Facebook account.
3. How to Use Snapchat Filters
How to use #Snapchat filters and lenses: https://t.co/mUf9z2Hvwe pic.twitter.com/9oIDKLTikw
— Social Selling (@noggledotcom) June 8, 2017
So before you can use the filters, you have to be on the Camera screen first. This is one of the five main screens of Snapchat and is the first screen you see once you log into the app.
To take the photo, just use it like your mobile phone’s camera, and snap by tapping the white circle. If you want to take a video, tap and hold the white circle. On the top right of your screen, you can switch between front and rear-facing mode, toggle flash, and turn on night mode.
If you want to use filters, you can tap anywhere on the screen before taking the photo. But if you’re more interested in animated or live filters, tap your face until a white border comes out and Snapchat will automatically load the live filters.
You can also modify your photo further by adding stickers, text, or your own drawings. You can see those tools at the top right corner of the screen. If you want to save your face as a sticker, use the scissor tool. There is also a timer available for your convenience. You can set the duration of how long your photo will exist when you send it over to your contacts. Continue to swipe left or right, and you’ll get more overlaying filters.
Now for saving photos, you can see a download arrow at the bottom left of your screen. If you want to add it to your 24-hour story (image will not disappear), there’s also a quick button for that. If you are ready to send your photos, just click the blue arrow. You can choose the friends you want to share the photo with before sending the image.
4. How to Use Snapchat Stories
Snapchat introduces custom Stories for capturing group moments with friends – https://t.co/jyNBUgeoqZ #snapchat #update #news #socialmedia pic.twitter.com/gkh6EI0Ird
— 3Chicken Consulting (@3_CConsulting) June 9, 2017
One screen down, four left to go. Swipe right and you are headed to your Stories screen. In Facebook, this is actually the News Feed. In Stories, you will see the stories from your friends, as well as content from brands and companies. All new stories or updates will appear on top of the featured content. You can watch the stories one at a time. However, if you want the stories to play in a sequence, tap the three-circle white pyramid button beside the camera button at the bottom part of the screen.
5. How to Use Snapchat Messages
When baby girl has a Snapchat & matches your bitmoji. Missing my babes rn. Actually typing to me ? pic.twitter.com/IM7kiNbhIo
— Courtney Silverio (@courtneebrooke1) June 9, 2017
To access your messages, swipe left from the main screen and you’ll go directly to the Messages screen. Here, you can see three types of Snapchat messages namely images, text, and videos. Want to know what type of message you received? A colored icon will appear beside your contact’s name. If it’s red, it’s a photo. If it’s blue, it’s a text message. And if it’s purple, it’s a video. If you want to send a text or go to the text messaging part of the app, you can tap the white-colored message bubble icon on the top right corner of the screen.
6. How to Use Snapchat Profile
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSwejWcjEcT/
What about your profile? You can access this screen by swiping up. In your profile, you can change your profile picture, add friends, and accept/deny friend requests. The settings icon can also be found here, at the top right corner to be exact.
One of the awesome features of the Snapchat profile is that your photo is placed inside a yellow QR code. This means that when someone wants to add you up on Snapchat, they can just scan the QR code with their camera. So if you want, let’s say, your Facebook friends to add you in Snapchat, just post a picture of your profile and they can easily scan the code and add you. Isn’t that convenient?
7. How to Use Snapchat Memories
My Snapchat memories is full of all the funny times I’ve spent with my friends pic.twitter.com/QYyeYJs9yx
— Lauren Dear (@DearlaurenD) June 4, 2017
The Memories screen is, well, for saving all your Snapchat memories of course. You need to swipe down to go to this screen. Memories saves your snaps in a cloud-based storage. However, it is still your preference how you want to configure it. Do you want your snaps to be saved on your phone or go directly to Memories, or maybe both?
Since Stories expire, Memories can store your stories for you. You can also save snaps that only you would see in the Your Eyes Only part. These private snaps are also stored in Memories, but they are password-protected.
Want to use your Snapchat to its full potential? Check out these 10 new Snapchat hacks from Adrienne Fitch:
How was that Snapchat user guide for you? Did it answer a lot of your questions on how to use Snapchat? If so, are you better equipped to take on the day knowing you can share your snaps and stories with your friends? Awesome! Snapchat can be complicated at first, but like I said, it just requires some practice, and you’ll soon maneuver through the app like a Snapchat pro!
Haven’t tried using Instagram yet? It’s time you do! Check out How to Signup for Instagram here!
