Snapchat update enables group chat, Shazam integration, sticker creation & more

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Snapchat today updated its iPhone and iPad app on the App Store with a trio of new features. You can now engage in groups chats with multiple users at once, create your own stickers from within the app and even identify a song that’s currently playing around you thanks to Shazam integration.

There’s also a new Paintbrush tool in Snapchat 9.45 for iOS that will turn your snaps into artistic-looking images.

Snapchat’s newly gained Shazam integration lets you press and hold on the camera screen to identify music playing nearby. In addition to recognizing music with Shazam from within the Snapchat app, you can engage with Shazam content using built-in Shazam cards and send your music and artist discoveries as Snaps to your friends.

Snapchat Shazam integration

Shazam currently has about 2,000 verified artists.

Groups, a new way to communicate with up to 16 people, can be created when sending a Snap or making a new chat. Names of participants in a group chat appear at the bottom of the screen, allowing you to tap a person to quickly start a 1:1 chat.

That’s a smart shortcut for those times when you have something to say to one person without spamming the whole group. Simply swipe to get back to the group chat.

Group messages and unopened Snaps are deleted after 24 hours so you still get that ephemeral experience in group chats that Snapchat is famous for. Keep in mind that Snaps sent in a group chat can be opened and replayed just once by each recipient.

With Scissors, a new creative tool in Snapchat, you can create a sticker simply by cutting out part of a Snap on the Preview screen. And lastly, the new Paintbrush tool available in Memories promises to turn your Snaps into “artistic masterpieces.”

Snapchat is a free download from the App Store.

Source: Snapchat, Shazam