12 Ways to Be the Ultimate Snapchat Queen With These Fun Features!

Snapchat is the world’s favorite app, and it just keeps getting smarter and smarter.

The app is a favorite among A-listers like the Kardashian/Jenners, so if you aren’t in on the hype, what’s stopping you?

Get the most out of the social media platform by becoming familiar with these new features you might not know about. Happy Snapping!

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1. It’s Your Birthday

To celebrate your birthday you can set up “Birthday Party” in Birthday Settings. This will put a birthday cake next to your name to remind your friends to, ahem, send you some birthday love. There is an exclusive lens that friends can use on your birthday, and another lens that is exclusive to you on your big day.

2. Personalize Your Friend Emojis

Different emojis pop up next to your friends’ names on Snapchat for many different reasons. For example, a gold heart means that you and a friend are Snapchat Best Friends, and a grimacing face emoji means that you and that user have a Best Friend in common. To decode all of the emojis, click here.

However, you can pick and choose your own emojis to represent your friend status, so get creative — why not change the gold heart to a pizza slice? We think this is incredibly apt, as pizza = love, after all.

3. Save Your Data

Switch on Travel Mode to reduce your data usage. Tap the Snapchat icon at the top of your camera screen, then the wheel on the right hand corner of your Profile Screen, then Manage, then Travel Mode on or off.

4. Pin Stickers

You can add stickers to video snaps as well as to pictures. Just pick the sticker you want and hold it down on the video, and it’ll move and rotate along with your video.

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5. Leave A Video Message For A Friend

You can call a friend by tapping the phone icon. They will then have the option to “Listen” or “Join.” If they click “Listen,” they’ll be able to hear you but you won’t be able to hear them, but if they click “Join,” you’ll both be able to engage in a conversation together.

Cleverly, Snapchat will be able to measure how far away from the screen you are, enabling the speakerphone if you’re far away or enabling audio through the earpiece if you’re holding it close to your face.

To hang up, tap the phone icon again. You’ll still be able to hear them until they hang up on you or you exit the chat.

However, if they never picked up, you can leave them a voice note by pressing and holding the icon. When you’re finished, lift your finger off the icon, and if you want to cancel it, drag it down to the “X.”

6. Create A Story Playlist

This feature allows you to be picky with whose Story you watch. To add a Story to your Story Playlist, tap the Story thumbnail and then hit the play button at the bottom of the screen to watch.

7. Send A Friendmoji

First, download the Bitmoji app and link it to your Snapchat account (instructions here), then when both you and a friend have done this, you’ll be able to send fun stickers to each other when chatting.

8. Create A Group

Snapchat’s latest update means you can now create Snapchat groups of up to 16 people — perfect for sharing your antics with those who will enjoy it most. You can create a group by either clicking on the New Chat icon at the top left-hand corner of the Chat tab, and then hand-picking people, or, when you go to send a Snap, scroll down to “Groups” and click “Create Group.” Chats sent in a group disappear after 24 hours and Snaps can only be opened and replayed once by each recipient. Who needs WhatsApp, eh?

9. Get Creative

Snapchat has also introduced two new Creative Tools — Scissors and Paintbrush. With the Scissors tool you can trim your Snaps and turn them into stickers, and with the Paintbrush tool you can now add decoration to any Snaps in your memories and re-send them.

You can then send your decorated Snap as usual, but if you scroll down past the first few names you will be able to send directly to a Group, or create a new Group by clicking “Create Group.”

MORE: Kim Kardashian Jokingly Insults Kylie Jenner’s Lip Injections on Snapchat!

10. Shazam On Snapchat

Arguably the coolest update. Now, if you record a song on Snapchat, the name of it will appear in Settings! Snapchat is turning out to be the only app you need.

11. Snapchat Spectacles

The social media company has created Snapchat Spectacles, glasses with which you can record up to 10 seconds of video (the camera is located in a yellow circle by the lenses). It becomes activated by pressing a switch and is synced to your phone.

The Snapchat Spectacles have created a lot of buzz over the past year, and are available to buy online.

12. Create Custom Stories

Snapchat’s new update is bringing a lot more fun to the Snapping game. You can now organize your Snaps by creating custom Stories for a particular occasion: birthday parties, a night out, holidays — anything!

To create a custom Story, click the “Create Story” icon, then name your Story, then select specific friends to view or contribute to the Story. You can even place a geofence and invite people who are within that area to contribute to and view the Story.

Note: Snapchatters can contribute to any Story at any time, but can not be the creator of more than three custom Stories at one time.

This story originally appeared on Grazia Daily.