Since its debut in 2011, Snapchat has quickly become one of the most-used mobile messaging applications in the world, especially among young people. A big part of its appeal is that it deletes messages sent through it after users view them. This lets its users be a little more honest and spur-of-the-moment without stressing out over someone eventually seeing something on Snapchat that they weren’t meant to.
If you haven’t tried Snapchat yet and would like to give it a go, you can download it for your iOS device here, or for your Android device here. If you need help setting it up and using it for the first time, we’ve got a tutorial that can assist you here.
Another thing that makes Snapchat popular is how easy it makes the process of adding new friends to communicate with, offering no less than five different – but simple – methods. One of the more innovative of these methods is by scanning special graphics known as Snapcodes. In this article, we’ll explain what Snapcodes are, as well as how you can use them to find new friends in Snapchat.
Okay, so what is a Snapcode?
A Snapcode is a one-of-a-kind graphic that is assigned to you when you join Snapchat. It serves as your profile picture, and you can add a photo of yourself to it (if you’d like). Since every user’s Snapcode is different, you can scan Snapcodes to quickly identify and make friends with other users.
Snapcodes are similar to “quick response” (“QR”) codes that you may have seen on certain advertisements or product packages, which look like this:
Basically, the patterns on both Snapcodes and QR codes are scanned by an image sensor, like the camera on your mobile device. They’re then analyzed as binary (computer) language so that they spell out something more complex. For instance, they could take you to a website on the Internet, or let you send an email message to a pre-determined address.
Alright, so how can Snapcodes help me find more friends on Snapchat?
That’s a bit of a trick question, because there are actually two ways you can use Snacpodes to add new friends. The first, as we alluded to, is by directly scanning a Snapcode with your mobile device’s camera. The second is by uploading a picture that contains a Snapcode and having it analyzed.
To add a friend by scanning their Snapcode directly:
- Turn on your mobile device. Find the Snapchat application and tap it to open it. Then log into your account.
- From the main screen, point your device’s camera at the Snapcode you want to scan. Then, press and hold your finger on any empty part of the screen.
If you’re currently using the camera on your device that’s facing you, try tapping the Switch Camera button in the top-right corner of the screen to use the camera that faces away from you.
- If Snapchat recognizes the scanned Snapcode as belonging to one of its users, you will be prompted to add them as a friend. Simply tap Add Friend, and then tap Done. That’s all there is to it!
To add a friend by uploading a picture of their Snapcode:
- Turn the power on for your mobile device. Once it has finished booting up, find the Snapchat app and tap it to launch it. Once it’s open, log into your account.
- From the main screen, tap the ghost icon to bring up the main menu.
- Once the main menu is open, tap Add Friends.
- A new menu will appear with various ways that you can add friends to your account. Tap Snapcode.
- Snapchat will search your device for all image files and arrange them in a grid for you. Tap the picture that has the Snapcode in it, and Snapchat will scan it to determine whether or not a Snapcode is indeed present.
- If Snapchat finds a user’s Snapcode within the picture you selected, it will ask you if you want to add that user as a friend. If you do, just tap Add Friend, and then tap Done.
How can I find my own Snapcode?
Okay, so we’ve shown you how you can scan other people’s Snapcodes to add them as friends. But what if your pals want to scan your Snapcode so they can add you as a friend on Snapchat? How do you go about showing them your own Snapcode? Let us demonstrate!
- Start by turning on your mobile device. Once it’s on, find the Snapchat application and tap it to open it. Then log into your account.
- Once you’re on Snapchat’s main screen, tap the ghost icon. This will open the main menu.
- Voila! Your Snapcode should be right there in front of you. Simple, right?
Okay, as a little bonus, we’ll show you how you can share your Snapcode without needing to log back into Snapchat to find it! Start by tapping your Snapcode.
- Once you tap your Snapcode, you’ll see a couple of new options. If you tap Share Snapcode, you can select a service to use to send your Snapcode to someone: an email, a text message, a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connection… you can even add it to a place on Google Maps!
You can also just tap Save Snapcode to Camera Roll to save a picture of your Snapcode in your device’s image gallery. Then, you can just show your friend your Snapcode when you’re showing them the other cool pictures you’ve taken lately. No need to go back to Snapchat for it!
There you have it: the two ways that you can use Snapcodes to find new friends to chat with on Snapchat, as well as how you can find and share your own Snapcode! If you’d like to learn about other ways to add friends on Snapchat, or anything else that Snapchat can do, be sure to check out our Snapchat course!
