How Stuff Works SnapchatBy: Eduardo SanchezPeriod 4

The Founder of Snap Chat•Snap chat is an app created by Evan Spiegel which is

to post pictures during real time.•He work on snap chat as school project in the

university of Stand Ford.•He was working with this with a pal named Frank

Reginald ‘Reggie’ Brown IV.•This relationship did not last long as things got sour

between them.

The Basics of Snap•Snapchat can be downloaded for free on Android and

iOS devices. Once you have it installed, open it on your phone. You'll have the option to login with an existing account or create a new one.

•To create a free account, tap "Sign Up." After entering your email address, password and birthday, tap the "Sign Up" button.

Signing Up

Children• You need to be at least 13 years old to use Snapchat. If you aren't, you'll be

directed to a restricted version of Snapchat called Snapkidz. Snapkidz does not allow its users to send or receive snaps or add friends. Instead, it only allows users to snap, caption and draw local to the user's device.

• For those over the age of 13 who are creating a Snapchat account, you will now be asked to verify your identity by sharing your mobile phone number. Don't worry — Snapchat makes a point to say that your number will not be shared with other Snapchat users. Once you've typed in your phone number, you have the choice to receive your six-digit verification code via SMS or a phone call. Once you have the code, enter it in the "Verification Code" field.

• As part of the verification process, you may be asked a question like the one below.

Verifying

Adding Contacts•Next, you'll see the "Find Friends" screen. To help

you find friends, Snapchat uses phone numbers from your device's address book. To allow Snapchat access to your contacts, tap "OK" when the following notification pops up.

Continuation • Other Snapchat users who have your phone number saved

in their address book can find you, too. You have the choice to add all your contacts who are on Snapchat, or add people one at a time by typing in their username into the search tool on the "My Friends" tab.

• "My Friends" is a place to view your friends, add friends and search for other Snapchat users. You can find this page by simply swiping right or tapping on the three lines located the bottom right corner of the camera screen.

Adding Friends•To add friends, tap the person icon with a plus sign in

the top-right corner. Now you can see people who have Snapchat from your address book, and can add them by tapping the plus symbol. To find users by username, tap on the magnifying glass. To see who added you to their friend list, tap the person icon with a plus sign next to it.

Adding Friends

Setting Personal Preference• Adjust your settings

• Before using the app, take a look at your settings by tapping on the red square on the bottom right corner of your camera screen. Then, tap the gear icon in the top-right corner.

• This is where you can update your personal information, choose who can send you snaps and view your Stories (we discuss Stories more below). If you prefer not to have your friends find you using your phone number, tap on "Mobile Number" to turn off that feature.

Additional Services • Activate additional services

• If you tap "Manage" under Additional Services, you'll see there are several bonus features that you can enable. In this section, you can enable filters, front-facing flash, power save mode and special text.

• It's important to point out that to use features like filters and "Our Story" (discussed in steps eight and nine), the app requires access to your location. By turning on filters, you are giving Snapchat permission to access your location.

• The special text feature allows you to overlay large text and emoji on your snaps. After you activate this, the letter "T" will appear next to the pencil in the upper right-hand corner of your screen of your snap draft. Tap on the "T" and type letters or emoji. These characters will become magnified.

• You can also activate the replay feature, which lets you replay one snap that was sent to you in the last 24 hours. The catch? You can only use replay once every 24 hours, and it will only allow you to replay the snap you last viewed. All users have access to the replay feature.

Creating Snaps• Use camera

• Snapchat automatically activates your phone's camera, and it's pretty easy to use. To adjust the focus of the camera, tap anywhere on the screen. Tap the camera icon in the top right-hand corner to switch from rear camera to front camera, and tap the lightning symbol at the top-left corner to turn on the flash on.

• To take a photo, tap the circle at the bottom of the screen. To record a video, tap and hold the circle at the bottom of the screen. You can record videos up to 10 seconds long.

Creating Snaps

Adding a Caption and Drawing•Add a caption

•Snapchat allows you to spice up your snaps with captions. When your recipient opens the snap, the caption will appear in a bar on top of the photo or video. Tap anywhere on the screen to add a caption.

Caption and Drawing

Time and Filter• Add a filter or effect

• Want to add different hues or cool things like time or location to your snap? Make sure you've enabled the filter feature in your setting; swipe your finger left or right to preview each filter.

• Set time limit

• You can choose how long you want your recipient to view your snap for — up to 10 seconds. To adjust the time limit, tap the stopwatch icon at the bottom-left corner.

Time Limit

Sending Snaps• When you're ready to send your masterpiece, tap the arrow in the bottom

right-hand corner. Your contact list will appear, and you can select who to send it to. There is no limit as to how many people you can send a snap to — choose all the recipients you want, and hit send by tapping the arrow on the bottom-right corner.

• Once your recipient has opened your snap, the triangle (for photos) or square (for videos) icon next to your friend's name will not be filled in. A filled-in icon means your snap has been sent, but hasn't been open yet.

• So, what happens to your snap after it's sent? Snapchat's privacy policy states, "once all recipients have viewed a snap, we automatically delete the snap from our servers and our services are programmed to delete the snap from the Snapchat app on the recipients' devices."

Receiving Snaps•Your contacts can send you snaps, too. To open these,

go to the camera screen and you'll see a number on the bottom-left corner of the screen. This number shows how many unopened snaps you have.

• If there is a filled-in icon next to the user's name, you haven't opened that snap yet. An empty square or triangle means you already viewed the snap.

Receiving SnapsPress and hold the snap you want to look at. Make sure you continue to hold your finger on the screen to view the snap. When you let go, the snap will disappear.You'll see the timer in the top-right corner, which shows how long you can view the snap. When the timer ends, the snap is gone permanently (unless you use the replay feature, explained above).Warning — if you take a screenshot of your friend's snap (the same way you would take a screenshot of anything on your phone), he or she will receive a notification.

Stories• Like a snap, Stories can be photos and videos. The difference is

that you can post a story to your feed, which can be seen by you and your friends. Stories were designed to show your friends what you've been up to in the last day. They exist for 24 hours and can be replayed as many times as you want.

• To create a Story, take a photo or video and then tap the rectangle icon with a plus sign located on the bottom of your screen. Tap "Add to Your Story." Once you've pressed this, it will exist on your feed for 24 hours. To delete the snap from your Story, go to your "My Friends" page and tap on the gear icon next to your Story. Tap "Delete."

Stories

Another way to create a Story is to take the photo or video and proceed to the "Send to..." tab. Check off the circle next to "My Story." You also have the option to choose which friends you want to receive your Story individually.

View Stories•To view Stories, go to your "My Friends" page. Tap

your username at the top to see your own Stories. You can tap the gear icon next to the Story to save it to your phone's photo album.

•To view your friends' Stories, tap their usernames, and a drop-down menu of their published Stories will appear.

Live ChatSend texts, photos and videosSnapchat isn't just for sending snaps and Stories. You can also have real-time conversations. To start a chat, visit your Snapchat inbox and swipe right on a friend's name. To attach a photo or video, tap the yellow camera button.Once you leave the chat screen, all messages between you and your friend will be cleared. If you want to save your message, you can either take screenshots of it or tap the conversation to save it. When you tap on the messages, the font will change and will be highlighted in gray, which means that you have saved the conversation.

Live VideoIf you and your friend are both in the chat at the same time, the camera button will turn blue. To start a live video chat, you and your friend must hold your fingers down on the camera button at the same time. Voilà! Your screen is now a live video chat.