The messaging service allows you to send
pictures and videos that disappear forever within seconds of being
viewed.
Or at least that’s the way it’s supposed to work.
Now,
with the use of some new third-party apps, it’s possible to save these
images without the sender knowing. This is a whole new level of sneaky
going down, and mark us guilty for mischievously spreading the word.
Here are the apps and how to use them.
Android
SnapChat Save Pic
replaces the official Snapchat app on your phone, and its layout is
close to a spitting image of the real thing. To get started, you’ll just
sign in the same way you normally would, and for the most part, the app
functions the same way Snapchat does.
The
subtle differences appear on the Snap viewing screen. Here you’ll see a
small troll face icon, as well as a Download button. By pressing the
troll face, you can indicate to the sender that you’ve viewed his or her
Snap. The Download button’s function is pretty self-explanatory:
Tapping it will download the video or picture Snap that you’re looking
at.
Save
Pic also auto-saves all your Snaps within the app, so you can look at
anything in your timeline screen, whether it’s been viewed already or
not, to see it again. Of course, if for some reason you decide to view a
Snap in the official app before pulling it up in Save Pic, the Snap
will be lost forever.
iPhone
Snap Save,
unlike its Android counterpart, is slightly different in appearance
from the official Snapchat app, and you’ll actually need to upgrade to
Pro ($2.99) to be granted the ability to save images to your Photos app.
Still, the free version does automatically cache each Snap for
unlimited viewing from within the app.
Just log into Snap Save, and the next thing you’ll see is your Snapchat timeline. From here on out, any message you open first in Snap Save will be saved for later viewing.
Though
you can’t save Snaps to your Photo app in the free version, you are
allowed a few “grace” screenshots in Snap Save before the app begins
sending your buddies alerts. It’s a ploy to get you to upgrade to the
“save all you want, and we won’t tell” Pro version, no doubt. Still, we
think the auto-cache feature in the non-Pro version is worth its
price—which is free.
Note:
You also cannot send Snaps with this sneaky iPhone version of Snapchat.
Instead, you’ll have to log into the official app and do your picture
taking and mustache doodling there. What makes this worse is that the
Snapchat service allows only one session to be logged in at a time per
account, so you’ll be forced to log back into the each each time you
load it up. Annoying, we know.
But
that’s how you can get extra sneaky on Snapchat. Please use the
information responsibly, and if anyone asks where you found out how to
do all this, you can tell them it’s Yahoo Tech’s fault. We’ll take the
fall for this one.