You can now make your own Snapchat filters without leaving the app
Snapchat is making it even easier to make your own custom geofilter.
The app just added its geofilter creation tools to its main app so you can design and buy a filter without ever closing the app. Previously, you could only make filters on Snapchat's website.
Beginning Wednesday, you can create the "on-demand geofilters" from within Snapchat's settings. There, you can find pre-made templates for events like weddings, birthdays, graduations, and baby showers, as well as seasonal events like the Fourth of July or "Summer Vibes."
Designing a filter works much the same way as it does on Snapchat's website: You choose a template and add text, emoji or Bitmoji to personalize it. Then, you choose where and when you want it to appear, pay, and wait for Snap's approval (the company says this usually take one business day).
Importantly, there are a few differences between the in-app filter creation tools and those on Snapchat's website. For one, you can't add friends' Bitmoji to the filters you make in the Snapchat app, you can only add your own. Filters made within Snapchat can, however include emoji and stickers.
Additionally, the prices will vary a little between the app and website, to account for the cut Apple and Google take from in-app purchases.
Filters purchased on Snapchat's website start at $5.00, while those purchased in the app will cost $5.99. Still, the added convenience of having them directly in the app will likely be enough to make it worth the extra cost for some.
Custom filters is a significant part of Snap's business. Users make "tens of thousands" of filters each day, according to the company, and businesses also pay for branded filters.
Snap has allowed users to make create their own geofilters since last February, but it originally required some expertise with Photoshop or other software. It revamped that process last year with a new online tool that added themed templates and allowed you to tweak the designs more easily.
Topics Snapchat
Karissa was Mashable's Senior Tech Reporter, and is based in San Francisco. She covers social media platforms, Silicon Valley, and the many ways technology is changing our lives. Her work has also appeared in Wired, Macworld, Popular Mechanics, and The Wirecutter. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and watching too many cat videos on Instagram. Follow her on Twitter @karissabe.
