The launch and uptake of Instagram Stories has put increased pressure on Snapchat to improve its service.
Read more: How Snapchat turned dick pics into a multi-billion dollar IPO
Since the app launched in 2011, its features have been copied by tech companies around the world; Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and more have introduced their own versions of disappearing stories. Other companies have introduced lenses and filters to their products, allowing you to alter your appearance Snapchat-style.
In response, the firm has been consistently adding new features to its app. As part of its latest update, Snapchat has introduced a map that lets you see friends' stories from around the world.
Here's an ever-evolving list of Snapchat's latest features and how to use them:
The firm has introduced a new map, dubbed the 'Snap Map', that lets you see the location of friends' stories and individual posts. The map shows Actionmojis (a type of Bitmoji) for where people have posted from and also shows submissions that have been made to the 'Our story' collections – these are curated posts based around events or locations. The Snap Map feature can be accessed by pinching on the camera screen on iOS and Android. Privacy-conscious users have the ability to turn their location off or share it only with friends.
It's now possible to create Stories with friends and family centred around events. These custom Stories allow multiple people to post pictures and videos into disappearing posts focused, for example, on a birthday or wedding, or a particular group of friends.
To setup a custom Story, press the create Story button in the top right-hand corner of the app's Stories page, give it a name and invite people to contribute. You can also choose who sees the Story and set up a geofenced area where people can contribute from within. Snap says it is possible to create three custom Stories at once and entire custom Stories will vanish if nobody posts in 24 hours.
One of the key principles of Snapchat is that messages disappear after a certain amount of time. The company has slightly tweaked this principle with limitless Snaps. While photos still vanish after 24 hours, it is now possible to view them for longer than the timeline (up to 10 seconds) that can be altered in the app's settings.
Within the timer icon, it is now possible to select an 'infinity icon' to make it possible for the image to stay on screen. When a story is moved on or a Snap closed, the image will still vanish.
GIFs are wonderful by the fact you're not limited to one viewing of the footage. Videos on Snapchat are emulating this by looping repeatedly until a story is moved on or closed.
It's possible to remove objects from a photo using the Snapchat eraser tool. By tapping the scissors tool within the app, followed by the Star icon you can make objects within a photo vanish.
In April, Snap added 3D lenses to its app for when the rear camera is being used. The 'New World Lenses' from Snapchat were the firm's biggest push into AR technology to date and allow for 3D graphics to be placed over items within the camera's view.
A promotion video (below) from Snapchat shows the new lenses allowing flowers to be planted in the ground and a rainbow to be placed above a group of people who are sitting at a table. The lenses are spatially aware and allow for an object to be placed into the real world, with Snap saying they will be updated each day.
Using the 3D lenses is a simple process. When taking a photo or video using the rear-facing camera, tap the screen to add a new lens. The first time you use the new 3D lenses, an animated pair of hands will appear on the screen to show you how to work it.
From here, it is possible to tap on an object to insert it into the camera view. Swiping up and down the screen will move the object closer or further away from the front of the screen. To move an object around, press and hold it to pick it up and then swipe around the screen to determine its new location.
During the process of placing objects, Snapchat says it is tracking the main surface of the photo – usually, this will be the ground. So this needs to be kept in view when a photo is being taken.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
