For those unfamiliar with it, Snapchat is one of the applications most used by young Americans, which is slowly, but inevitably, becoming popular in Italy. The main peculiarity of Snapchat, which despite the name is not a purely chat and message application, is the function of being able to send photos and videos to friends so that, once seen, they disappear and do not remain in memory. Snapchat, as already written some time ago, is based on sending messages that self-destruct on their own, after a maximum of 10 seconds, once sent and viewed by the recipient. For this special function, it is easy to understand the obvious reasons for the initial success that Snapchat has had among young people.
Starting from this, Snapchat has evolved and is no longer just an app to unleash the intimate instincts of the boys, but a special sharing app that can be useful to everyone for all the things it does and that, today, is worth really worth trying and using.
READ ALSO: Record video from glasses with Snapchat's Spectacles
Snapchat can be downloaded free for Android and iPhone smartphones.
Like other messaging apps, such as Whatsapp or Viber, you register using, in addition to an email address, also the mobile number so that you can automatically add to the list of contacts the friends who already use it, of which you have the number stored in the phone book. The application immediately wants us to take a GIF selfie in order to have a profile picture. The selfie is animated, so 5 consecutive shots will be taken and our contacts will be able to see our face moving in a loop as in the Harry Potter films.
To add friends there are several ways:
You can add friends from the address book automatically as already mentioned above, from the username and from the Snapcode, that is the code with yellow drawing that can be scanned from a friend's phone. You can also add someone close to us as a friend. All of these options are found by tapping the Snapchat icon at the top when the camera appears. If you want to add me, my nickname is pomhey .
You can notice that opening the application always shows the camera to take a selfie or take a photo from the rear camera (by pressing the button on the top right corner).
Then take a photo, add an inscription on it if you want, set the self-destruction timer from the icon at the bottom left or create a story we are talking about in a few lines. At the top, there are the buttons to add stickers and emoticons to the photo, to write or draw on it . The best part of Snapchat's selfies is definitely the function that allows you to mask your face with augmented reality effects, in order to transform yourself into a character, in real time, seeing yourself on the screen before you even take the photo. You can choose many transformations, among which there are those to become Santa Claus, a monster, a super hero, a fairy, a cat and so on. Snapchat masks are also interactive and with animations that appear depending on how the mouth moves.
If instead you want to make a video, then just hold down the circular button in the center to start recording and release it to stop recording. Also on Videos it is possible to apply filters, add writings or drawings of various types. On photos and videos, you can also add filters by sliding your finger on the photo to the right or add other decorated writing by touching the screen with a finger and then scrolling with the other hand.
This centrality on selfies could drive away those who are not interested in sending photos of themselves to friends, but here is that Snapcat hides several other functions that make it a very special messaging app.
One of these really interesting is that of Stories, which are news channels in all respects. From the initial camera, tap the button at the bottom right with three lines to access the stories which, as you can see, are like magazines made of animations, articles and photos. It becomes very fun and less boring to read the news of MTV, CNN or National Geographic from the Snapchat Stories and it is a pity that for the moment no Italian media uses it to spread news as these American portals do. Just think that the 2016 Oscar ceremony was broadcast live on Snapchat in the Stories section, which is a real added value for this application. Last night's live performances included shooting the Champions League semi-final Man City - Real Madrid . anyone can create stories in Snapchat by publishing photos and videos that will remain visible to anyone for 24 hours.
Instead, by scrolling from left to right by the camera or by pressing the small square button on the lower left corner, you can open the contact list .
Press and hold on a contact's name to open the options tab and be able to choose whether to send them a photo or chat .
Chat is perhaps not the most immediate function in Snapchat, but it works as well as that of Facebook Messenger or Whatsapp and allows not only to send messages, but also to send multiple photos together, to make a phone call with a voice call or to make a video call .
The Snapchat video call is the best ever because it makes it possible to send stickers, emoticons, writings and photos during the video call, making everything much more fun and interactive. You can open a chat simply by swiping from left to right on a contact's name. From a contact's card, however, you can ask for it to be blocked or you can change its name, if you prefer to make it more recognizable or even more hidden. In chat you can also share links that are automatically received with title and logo or image.
Update 2016: Snapchat has added the Memories function that allows you to create a personalized album of photos taken via Snapchat, so that you can keep them in memory. The photos will only be visible to us and the app, which is mainly based on self-destructing photos, also becomes a convenient way to take photos to keep. Photos downloaded with Snapchat can also be kept secret and private by placing a password that only the owner knows.
Update 2019: With Snapchat you can create Deepfakes by putting your face in a video, thanks to the function of the Cameos inside the chats.
In conclusion, Snapchat is today an app that does many fun things much loved by young people, which can truly become an app that cannot be renounced if its function of the Stories were to develop and take hold also among the media, TV and newspapers, Italians who could have an exclusive space to share news and shows in a new and animated way.
