Snapchat Review

Snapchat is a social app that combines social media features with a powerful messenger that offers you video chats with up to 15 friends, a variety of custom emojis, etc. While not the most useful, this app remains one of the most entertaining platforms with lots of unique features for you to explore.

Design and Usability 7/10

Snapchat may be confusing at first – most of your screen is taken by the picture from the phone’s front camera. You have to figure out how to access other options for a while. But when you’re done, it’s going to be much more intuitive from then on. Various icons alongside your screen's borders allow you to access different features, including chats, filters, games, and so on. All in all, the app takes some time to get used to, so give it a little more attention than you usually do with other platforms.

Key Functions 10/10

Basically, Snapchat is a messenger with advanced photo and video editing options. The messenger part is not that unique: you just choose a person from your contact list and start exchanging short messages, occasionally adding an emoji or two. What makes it so special is capturing photos and video clips with your front camera and then adding all kinds of hilarious filters to them. Just tap a button, capture a video fragment, and play with your face all you wish – you can add captions, dog ears, various masks and effects, and new filters get added every day.

Applying these effects doesn’t require any skill: just tap a button, and Snapchat will do the rest, turning you into a beast or changing your gender instantly. Of course, there are all kinds of sharing options: you can export the result or just send it to other social media in no time – and this seems to constitute most of the app’s strange appeal. I’ve never had so much silly fun with a messenger – it’s so good it becomes time-consuming very soon, so watch out.

Security & App Purchases 8/10

Snapchat is designed to encourage pretty relaxed communication that involves exchanging private data like photos and videos. That’s why the developers care about security a lot, featuring things like videos and messages that get self-destructed after a while. You can’t save anything directly from the app – and while you can always make a screenshot, your contact will get notified about that. The chats are mostly encrypted, and the process of adding somebody into your contact list is double-sided to prevent scams, spam, and other unpleasant things. And the app is free to use, which is pretty great, too.

Conclusion

Free and entertaining, Snapchat is great for keeping in touch with your friends while staying relaxed all the way. The app manages to create a unique, playful atmosphere that gets supported by heavy security and features like self-destructing messages.