Snapchat

Snapchat today introduced a new feature called Context Cards, designed to add more information and functionality to your Snaps. Context Cards offer quick access to options like location information, directions, reviews, and ride sharing services. Context Cards can be accessed by swiping up on any Snap that has a "More" option, with the info attached to Snaps tagged with venue-specific...

Snapchat is gaining a new feature called "Sky Filters," which are able to detect the sky in an image and then layer different effects on top, much like Snapchat's existing face-based filters. Snapchat told TechCrunch that the new filters are rolling out starting today on iOS an Android. Available filters will rotate on a daily basis and will include virtual weather, sunsets, stars, rainbows,...

One new feature in iOS 11 lets you easily record the screen of your iPhone as you navigate around the user interface, which can be useful when trying to help someone remotely troubleshoot an iOS problem or when making videos to share online. Since iOS 11 officially launched to the public yesterday, many users on Twitter and other sites have begun to worry that people will be able to screen record ...

Snapchat will now allow users to view their Bitmoji characters in augmented reality, through an addition to its previous "World Lens" feature. With the update, Bitmoji will be able to do yoga, skateboard, drink coffee, and more, all taking place in real-world surroundings in AR (via TechCrunch). Image via TechCrunch Similar to Snapchat's popular dancing hotdog character, the Bitmoji will...

Snapchat is currently trialling a new concert-related feature on the platform that stitches together individual video clips from different users to create one seamless video. Called Crowd Surf, the feature uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to work out when multiple users are actively recording the same event. By combining the two technologies, Crowd Surf is able to match...

Snapchat for iOS was today updated with a new "Snap Map" feature that's designed to let Snapchat users share their current location with their friends, facilitating real-life meet ups. With the new Snap Map, all of your friends with location sharing enabled will show up on an in-app map with either photos or "Actionmoji" avatars marking each friend location. For those who do not want to share...

Snap made its Spectacles available across Europe today, almost seven months after the company debuted them in the U.S. For anyone unfamiliar with Snapchat's first hardware product, the Spectacles are a one-size-fits-all pair of sunglasses that can record 10 seconds of video at a time and sync wirelessly with the mobile Snapchat app. More than 55 million people use Snapchat daily in...

Snapchat is gearing up to launch a slate of original television shows, using the social network's unique, short-lived media hook as a means to create content that lasts between 3-5 minutes long. Snapchat has signed original show deals with a collection of companies over the past few months, including NBCUniversal, Turner, A+E Networks, Discovery, BBC, ABC, ESPN, Vice Media, Vertical Networks,...

Snapchat today expanded its set of available Lenses, introducing new ways to use the feature. Starting this morning, Snapchat users can access World Lenses, which are 3D objects that can be rotated and manipulated when taking a photo. Objects like a rainbow, a multi-colored "hello" sign, or flowers can be positioned anywhere within a photo before it's taken, with gestures available for...

As the competition between Instagram and Snapchat continues to heat up, a new blog post by Instagram today has revealed that the company's Snapchat clone "Instagram Stories" now has more daily active users than Snapchat itself. Of its 600 million users, Instagram now has more than 200 million users posting to or interacting with Stories every day, while Snapchat reportedly has around 158...

The Snapchat app for iOS devices has been updated with a new widget feature, which is designed to make it easier and quicker for Snapchat users to send snaps and messages to friends. Available in the Today view of the Notification Center, the Snapchat widget adds a Bitmoji for friends that are marked as "Best Friends" within the Snapchat app. Tapping on the friend Bitmoji automatically...

Camera-focused company Snap is said to have worked on a drone that would connect to the iOS and Android Snapchat app and let users take photos and videos from aerial angles, according to sources speaking with The New York Times. Details about the drone and any of its other capabilities remain under wraps, but the work is said to help Snap "bolster" its repositioning and rebranding as a modern-day ...

After debuting exclusively inside special pop-up vending machines last year, Snapchat has today begun selling its video-recording Spectacles online for $129.99. Like in the vending machines, the Spectacles come in Coral, Black and Teal, and include a charging case and cable. At the time of writing, shipping estimates sit at a delivery time within the next 2-4 weeks. Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel ...

Snapchat has secured the rights to stream six exclusive mini episodes of hugely popular BBC nature documentary series Planet Earth II (via The Verge). The short run of mobile episodes is due to start on February 17, one day before the full series is scheduled to begin broadcast on BBC America. The 4-6 minute episodes accessible to Snapchat users will consist of content shown on the BBC in...

Snap is said to be working on a collection of "smarter lenses" that would let users overlay virtual images and objects onto landscapes in the real world, "not just faces," and let them interact with the virtual objects similar to augmented reality (via The Information). The smarter lenses are an advancement of the "world lenses" that came to Snapchat last year, which placed various simple...

After copying Snapchat inside of Instagram with last year's "Instagram Stories" update, Business Insider today learned that Facebook is gearing up to launch the exact same feature in its mainline Facebook mobile app. Now called "Facebook Stories," the social media company is bringing over the same circular user interface to its main app for users in a small test in Ireland, letting them post...

Snapchat has been updated with an improved universal search feature that makes it easier for users to find friends, groups, stories, and other content on the social network, reports TechCrunch. The new universal search bar is located at the top of the Snapchat app, making it accessible when browsing, sharing a photo, and more, an improvement over the previous search features that were split up ...

Snapchat has gained Shazam's music recognizing abilities in its camera screen, which Shazam says is an even easier way to discover new songs and send each one to friends as Snaps. To use the new feature, all users have to do is press and hold anywhere on the Snapchat camera screen when music is playing nearby to begin the Shazam process. From there they can dig deeper into more info about the...

Snapchat's video-recording Spectacles became available to buy in the U.S. on Thursday, not online or in stores, but from pop-up vending machines. Called 'Snapbots', the giant vending machines will dispense the Spectacles in either Black, Coral or Teal, and allow customers to try them on virtually using a built-in augmented reality display. For those unfamiliar with Snapchat's first...

Snapchat is joining in on the augmented reality craze today with an update to its iOS app that lets Snapchatters use both their outward-facing and self-facing cameras to discover objects hidden in the world around them through their iPhone screens. Called "World Lenses," the options include an Election Day filter, rainbow-vomiting clouds, floating glitter, snow, hearts, and a horror-themed lens...