by Blake Jackson | @Blakestweet 

Snapchat is social media’s version of Seinfeld. It’s an app that’s about sharing moments in everyday life with others, and like Seinfeld, the pictures or videos you receive are gone too soon. The app revolves around sending pictures or videos to your friends that are only available for 10 seconds after opening them. Recently, the company released a few updates that continue to differentiate an already different photo sharing app. Users now have the capability to switch between new filter options with the swipe of their finger as well as "replay" a recent "snap" and so much more!

Replay: First things first, after updating your app be sure and go to Additional Services and turn on all of these new features. The first feature unveiled is called "replay." It is a helpful change, but one that still maintains the uniqueness about the app. Replay is only allowed for one “snap” every 24 hours. The other kicker to replay is the fact that  it is only available for the most recent “snaps” and only while the app is still open. Once the app is closed you can not replay previously received “snaps".

Photo Filters: The next update is one that I feel is essential for all photo sharing apps. As we have learned from Instagram and other photo sharing platforms, human beings and food look a lot better with filters. That’s just the way it is. Snapchat’s photo filters are not very robust, they only have three, including the essential sepia, vintage, and of course black and white. You can now preview these filters by swiping your finger to the left or right after taking a picture. The new filter update also introduces a 'smart' filter, which includes the temperature, time and speed of the photo when taken. This allows you to show the temperature of your location on the photo and it can even show how fast you were going when you took the picture.

Text: Snapchat has increased the size of the photo caption text, and has added the ability to center the text on your picture. If your keyboard is equipped with Emoji’s then those will also become bigger when you enlarge the text. They also have solved the problem of taking a selfie in the dark. There is now an option to make the screen flash bright right before the photo is taken. The picture quality is good, but word of caution: the flash will temporarily blind you.

These updates are imperative for Snapchat to continue on its climb to the top of the social media food chain. If you want to see how Snapchat can help grow your business then give us a call at (469) 248-0616.