This trick will let you record Snapchat videos without your hands

Ever wish you could record a Snapchat video with no hands? Good news: it's not only possible, it's easier than you may think.

While there's no official way to enable hands-free recording in the app itself, there's a relatively simple workaround for iPhone users via iOS' accessibility settings (we haven't yet found a reliable method for Android, unfortunately.)

Head over to the accessibility setting: Settings --> General --> Accessibility --> AssistiveTouch and enable AssistiveTouch. If you've ever dealt with a broken home button you're likely familiar with how AssistiveTouch works but you'll now need to create a custom gesture as well.

Total Time

• 5 min

What You Need

• Snapchat
• Smartphone

Step 1: Step 1

Head over to the accessibility setting: Settings --> General --> Accessibility --> AssistiveTouch and enable AssistiveTouch. If you've ever dealt with a broken home button you're likely familiar with how AssistiveTouch works but you'll now need to create a custom gesture as well.

Step 2: Step 2

Choose "Create New Gesture" from the Assistive Touch menu and hold down on the screen until the blue bar on the bottom has reached the end. Then save the gesture and give it a label you'll remember.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Step 3: Step 3

Now, head back over to Snapchat. Launch the camera and open the Assistive Touch menu. Choose the gesture you just created from the "custom" menu. This should cause a second transparent circle to appear on the screen, in addition to the main AssistiveTouch menu.

Step 4: Step 4

Tapping that circle will trigger the gesture – in this case holding down. Drag the circle over the shutter button in the Snapchat app to begin recording without the need to keep holding down on your phone.

Choose "Create New Gesture" from the Assistive Touch menu and hold down on the screen until the blue bar on the bottom has reached the end. Then save the gesture and give it a label you'll remember.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Now, head back over to Snapchat. Launch the camera and open the Assistive Touch menu. Choose the gesture you just created from the "custom" menu. This should cause a second transparent circle to appear on the screen, in addition to the main AssistiveTouch menu.

Tapping that circle will trigger the gesture – in this case holding down. Drag the circle over the shutter button in the Snapchat app to begin recording without the need to keep holding down on your phone.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

While the trick is pretty seamless, there are a couple caveats. For one, because of limitations of the iOS accessibility feature, you can't record a full 10-second clip using this method (it seems to work for about 5-6 seconds at a time.)

Additionally, you'll still need your hands to trigger the start of the recording so it's not 100% hands-free the way an actual remote shutter button would work.

Still, it's a quick and easy way to record shorter clips and having both hands free definitely opens many possibilities for you to up your Snapchat game.