A ‘snap’ is a photo or video that users can send to their friends. They can add a filter, add text, or draw over the image or video. After their friends view the snap, it self-destructs (disappears). Users can double tap to reply to a snap by sending a photo or video and they can also start a text chat.

A Bitmoji is a personalised cartoon character created in the Bitmoji app. Most people tailor it to their personal characteristics to look like a small, cartoon version of themselves. A variety of images are then generated with this likeness. These images can be used in Snapchat and the Bitmoji keyboard. The Bitmoji app releases new clothing lines for Bitmoji which are usually seasonal (e.g. a tree costume at Christmas).

Users can post a ‘story’ to their account. This means that all their friends can view their story for 24 hours. A user can add as many photos or videos to their story as they wish. They can see who has viewed it and if someone screenshots it. Snapchat friends can send stories to other people without the poster’s knowledge by holding down on it and selecting the contact or group they wish to send it to.

Snapchat Discover Stories allow users to explore Stories from different editorial teams. It is updated every 24 hours and produced by popular news outlets and magazines such as Sky Sports, Buzzfeed, Cosmopolitan, Daily Mail, etc. The Discover Stories feature is not age restricted and children may be exposed to inappropriate content.

Live stories allow users to upload their photos and videos to a story that can be viewed by anyone in the world who has a Snapchat account. This story is also available for 24 hours. The purpose of a live story is to show other users worldwide a ‘community perspective’ with lots of different viewpoints.

If a user has ‘location services’ switched on, Snapchat allows them to create a Geo Story that only they and people nearby can add to. Everyone on a user’s friends list can view this story, as can everyone on the friends lists of people who add to the Geo Story.

Users can create a private story where they can select specific friends or groups to view it. They can also select from those friends who can add snaps to the private story.

Snapchat’s artificial intelligence chatbot that responds and interacts with users. The bot chat is pinned at the top of a user’s chat window and can be used like any other AI chatbot – users can ask My AI questions, request jokes or interact in conversations.

This feature links users who attend the same school or college. Users join the community using an official school or college email address. They can then see what other users from the same school are sharing, and interact with each other.

By long-tapping on the camera screen, users will find the AR (Augmented Reality) Lenses. These adapt to what is on screen. For example, if a user is using the front-facing camera they may see a dog mask on their face, but if they are using the rear-facing screen, they may see an animated version of their Bitmoji.

Once users have taken their snap, they will see the ‘edit snap’ screen where they can customise it before posting. There are lots of ways to do this. Users can add colour filters (e.g. make it black and white), add Bitmoji stickers or custom stickers, add text, and other graphic overlays to make their snaps more exciting.

If a user has ‘location services’ switched on, Snapchat will occasionally provide Geofilters that are specific to neighbourhoods and special locations, which will change from place to place. These could be unique to a city or a special event. For a fee, users can create geofilters and pay for it to be active during a specified time frame at a specific location – these are popular for weddings and birthday parties!

This is the messaging section of Snapchat. Messages sent in ‘blue chat’ are usually text based and disappear once the user swipes out of the chat (unless they have been saved). Users can also send stickers, Bitmoji stickers, voice notes, circular video messages, and images from their camera roll. It does not contribute to streaks.

Users can add images to their snaps which are called stickers and they can also be sent in blue chat. The most generic stickers are the time, current speed, temperature, and battery stickers. They all show current stats such as the speed the user is traveling, their phone battery level, and the current temperature of where they are. There are a wide range of stickers including Bitmoji stickers, animated stickers, and custom stickers users can create from their own images and emojis.

Friend Emojis signify how frequently one user sends a snap to another. For example, a yellow heart will appear beside a name if both users are each other’s #1 Best Friend. Also, the Birthday Cake emoji will appear beside a friend’s name when it’s their birthday.

With Snapchat Group Chats, users can send a snap, message, camera roll image, voice note, or a video to a group of up to 31 friends. Groups can be created while sending a snap or when making a new chat. Chats sent to a group are deleted by default after 24 hours. Snaps sent to a group chat can be opened and replayed just once by each recipient, but will also be deleted after 24 hours. Unlike other group chats, no one can be ‘kicked’ out of a group. Members must leave in order to not be a part of the group.

Users can set a snap to be viewed for an unlimited period of time. Once someone finishes viewing a limitless snap, they have to tap to close it and it will disappear as usual.

Users can replay each snap once by holding down on the Snap to see it again.

If any of friend takes a screenshot of a user’s photo, video, or chat, the user will be notified. There will also be a double-arrow next to the snap to indicate that a screenshot has been taken.

This is where a user can store their own Snaps. It is below the camera screen and can be accessed by swiping upwards when on camera view. They can also access photos in their camera roll from the Memories section of the app. Users can export, delete, edit, and send snaps from their Memories.

These are ‘throwbacks’ to old Snaps sent between two friends. They appear directly in conversations.

Users can now play a selection of mini-games within Snapchat. In a Message or Group Chat, clicking the rocket icon in the bottom right corner will open the Game Drawer. Here users will find a variety of games such as Tennis and Snake. Each game is playable by single-player or with friends.

These are Augmented Reality (AR) games that have been built into Snapchat. Like Lenses, these games take advantage of Snapchat’s facial detection technology allowing users to control them with facial expressions. Snappables are accessible in the Lenses section to the left of the Capture button.

This is represented in the app with a (default) fire Emoji and number. The lowest number that a user can get is 3. To get a ‘Streak’, two users must send each other at least 1 Snapchat each in 24 hours. Users can change the default Emoji in your settings. The emoji will change to an hourglass if the Snap Streak is about to end.

It’s worth noting that many users see the number of the streak as being related to the strength of a friendship (Higher streak=Better friends.) Often, users will send a snap saying ‘Streaks’ to many, if not all, of their friends every day in order to make more streaks.

This is a number on a user’s profile, generated by a special equation calculated by combining the number of Snaps they’ve sent and received with the number of stories they’ve posted. Basically, it shows how active a user is on the app.

The name for each user’s unique favicon (the yellow square with a ghost or bitmoji in it, found on the user’s home screen). Instead of adding friends on Snapchat by inputting their username, Snapchat users can scan their friend’s unique Snapcode instead.

Click on the ghost or Bitmoji at the top of the Camera screen to find not only a user’s snapcode, username, star sign, favicon, and settings but also their Trophy Case.

Trophies appear as emojis and show a lock emoji until each achievement has been unlocked. These trophies can be achieved for a range of reasons, but Snapchat tries to keep new trophies a secret to encourage users to explore the app. For example, if a user sends 50 black and white Snaps they will get the panda trophy. If they apply 2 filters to 1 snap, they will get a peace emoji.

This feature ensures that a user’s location will no longer be shared with friends and their bitmoji will be invisible on Snapchat Maps. To enable Ghost Mode, users must tap on their profile picture, click ‘Settings’, scroll down to ‘Privacy Controls’, select ‘See My Location’, and enable Ghost Mode by swiping the toggle.