What Is the Moon Icon in the Snapchat App

Evan Gower May 24, 2019

Snapchat is a great app people use to communicate and send photos. It is really fun and unique because it lets you use many filters and it is always changing. This app is constantly pushing the envelope to make things new and interesting for its users.

However, not all of its features are completely transparent to the users. One of the somewhat obscure features is the moon icon that sometimes lights up at the upper-left corner of the screen, next to the flash icon. What does this moon represent and how does it get triggered?

In a nutshell, it is the night camera mode and this article is going to cover everything you need to know about it. Also, we’ll take a look at some other cool features on Snapchat you maybe did not know about.

How to Turn on Night Camera Mode on Snapchat?

Many users still have no idea that there is a night camera mode on Snapchat which you can turn on to brighten up the photos. The iPhone users always had access to this feature while Android phone users got it in late 2017.

A lot of time has passed since then, but many Snapchat users still a bit in the dark when it comes to this useful feature. It actually activates on its own when the lighting is very dark. Then the moon icon becomes visible, right next to the flash. It is a way of brightening your photos without using your camera flash.

Keep in mind that this feature is somewhat random at times. It does not always activate, even if you are standing in a pitch-dark room. Without further ado, here is how you can activate the night camera mode on Snapchat by yourself:

Launch Snapchat on your Android or iOS device.
Point your camera toward a dark area of the room. If that does not work, you can actually cover your camera lens with a hand and low light mode will trigger on its own.
You should now see the moon icon next to flash in the top left corner of your phone screen.
Tap on it.
Your picture will become sharper and brighter.
Tap on the icon again to see the difference.

With this feature turned on, you will be able to take pictures of yourself or others in darker settings without having to use the camera flash. This is great because flash can be blinding and very annoying to many people.

Other Interesting Features of Snapchat You Perhaps Missed

Snapchat has many features which are not entirely visible at first glance. It is not famous for being the most user-friendly social platform. However, its numerous filters can spice up conversations with friends and make the time fly. Here are some tricks you maybe were not familiar with.

You Can Use Two Filters at Once

Everybody likes filters on Snapchat, but did you know you can use more than one at a time? You can use a combination of an image filter and a data label filter. Here is how to do it:

Add the first filter to your snap.
Keep one of your fingers on the screen.
At the same time select a new filter using a different finger.
Finally, add the first filter like you always do, pressing the display with your finger. Then slowly swipe across the screen with another finger to apply the new filter.
It sounds difficult and it may take you some time to get a hang of it but it will work out in the end. Multitaskers will get this faster for sure.

How to See Who Followed You Back

Once you follow somebody on Snapchat, you can start sending Snaps to them right away. Because they are not following you back, the Snaps will be in the pending status. In addition, this person will be on your friends list. How to make sure they are following you too?

You can do it by following these steps:

Go to your profile screen.
Then select Added Me.
On this screen, you will see who added you. Confirm by pressing the plus icon.
The plus will change into a checkmark and now you know this person is following you back.

Darkness be Gone!

Navigating through Snapchat is not always easy, but it still one of the most interesting apps around. Now you know how to turn up the brightness of pictures without going blind from the flash. It does not have to be dark to use this feature, you can activate it any time, any place.