Snapchat Augmented Reality Lenses Come to Microsoft Teams
Snapchat’s augmented reality technology can now be experienced by Microsoft Teams customers around the world, thanks to the launch of a series of Snap AR lenses on the group messaging platform.
Via an integration of Snap’s Camera Kit software development kit (SDK), Teams users will be able to activate a rotating selection of 26 Snapchat lenses in video calls that will allow them to appear on camera as though they have cat ears, are being hugged by a sloth and more. These lenses are available to Teams users without an additional download by clicking “Video Effects,” “More Video Effects,” and then the “Snapchat” tab.
This isn’t the first time Microsoft has integrated Snap’s Camera Kit SDK into one of its products. Previously, Microsoft used Camera Kit to bring Snap’s augmented reality technology into its Flip video learning platform. In a blog post, Snap said, “There has been a 60% increase in students and teachers creating videos” since the Snap AR technology was added to the “Flip web experience.”
Snap previously offered its own Snap Camera desktop application, which allowed users to activate filters during video calls on other platforms. The Snap Camera app was discontinued in January 2023.
Spring is here, and to celebrate, Instagram released a “Bloom” chat theme that adds flowers and pastel colors to a conversation’s background.
Our guide will show you how to use the Bloom chat theme in the Instagram mobile application.
Note: These screenshots were captured in the Instagram app on iOS.
Step 1: Open the Instagram conversation you want to customize and tap the conversation name at the top of the screen.
Step 2: Tap “Theme.”
Step 3: Tap the “Bloom” chat theme. Note: There is no preview screen or confirmation window. Once you tap the “Bloom” chat theme, the conversation will be updated.
Messenger assigns each conversation a “quick reaction” symbol that users can tap to send that symbol in the conversation. By default, a conversation’s quick reaction is the thumbs up emoji, but users can change this icon to suit their tastes. Specifically, users can select a different emoji or a picture of their avatar.
Our guide will show you how to change the quick reaction in a Messenger conversation.
Note: These screenshots were captured in the Messenger application on iOS.
Step 1: Open the conversation you want to customize and tap the conversation name at the top of the screen.
Step 2: Tap “Quick reaction.”
Step 3: Tap a picture of your avatar or one of the emoji to set it as the conversation’s quick reaction. Note: You can tap the icons at the bottom of the screen to browse emoji based on different categories. You can also tap the search bar at the top of the window to manually search for an emoji.
This guide was first published in March 2018 and was updated in March 2023.
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Reddit allows users to chat privately with others on the platform. Users also have the option to leave these private chats if they no longer want to be part of them.
Our guide will show you how to leave a chat in the Reddit mobile application.
Note: These screenshots were captured in the Reddit app on iOS.
Step 1: Open the Reddit conversation you want to leave and tap the three dots in the top-right corner of the screen.
Step 2: Tap “Leave chat.” Note: There is no confirmation window. Once you tap “Leave chat,” you will be removed from the chat and the conversation will no longer show up on the app’s Chat tab.
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LinkedIn now allows users to send a post to multiple users on the professional social network at the same time. That is, rather than sending a post to a single user and repeating this process to send the post to another user, users can now send the same post to multiple users in separate conversations simultaneously.
Our guide will show you how to send a post to multiple users at the same time while using the LinkedIn mobile application.
Note: These screenshots were captured in the LinkedIn app on iOS.
Step 1: Tap “Send” in the bottom-right corner of the post you want to share.
Step 2: Tap the check box to the right of each user you want to send the post to. Note: You can use the search bar at the top of the screen to search for users manually.
Step 3: Once you’ve selected your desired users, you can tap the “Add a message…” field near the bottom of the screen if you want to send your own message along with the post.
Step 4: When you’re done selecting users and composing your message (if you wrote one), tap the “Send separately” button at the bottom of the screen to send the post to the users you selected.
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Reddit allows users to chat privately with other users on the platform. Users have the option to mute notifications from individual conversations if they don’t want to be alerted about those chats.
Our guide will show you how to mute notifications in a chat in the Reddit mobile application.
Note: These screenshots were captured in the Reddit app on iOS.
Step 1: Open the chat you want to manage and tap the three dots in the top-right corner of the screen.
Step 2: Tap the gray toggle to the right of “Mute notifications” to mute notifications in the chat. The toggle will turn navy blue when notifications are muted. Note: You can repeat these steps in the future if you ever want to unmute notifications in the chat.
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Discord Nitro subscribers now have access to 16 “Color” themes that they can use to customize the appearance of the Discord desktop application. Previously, only the “Light” and “Dark” themes were available. These Light and Dark themes are still available to all users and Nitro subscribers, giving Nitro subscribers 18 themes to choose from in total, as of this writing.
Our guide will show you how to use one of these new Color themes in the Discord desktop app.
Note: These screenshots were captured in the Discord app on Mac.
Step 1: In the Discord desktop application, click the gear icon to the right of your username in the bottom-left corner of the app.
Step 2: Under the “App Settings” section on the left side of the screen, click “Appearance.”
Step 3: Under the “Theme” section, click one of the 16 new color themes to change the appearance of the Discord app. Or, click the “Preview Themes” button on the right side of the screen if you want to preview these themes before selecting one.
If you clicked the “Preview Themes” button, click one of the Color themes on the right side of the screen to preview it in the Discord app.
Once you decide on a theme, click the “x” button in the top-right corner of the screen to close the “Preview Theme” menu, or click the “Back to Settings” button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to return to the Settings menu.
Disclosure: Adweek’s Social Pro Daily received a complementary three-month Nitro subscription.
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Just in time for March Madness, Instagram released a “Basketball” chat theme that adds a basketball court to a conversation’s background.
Our guide will show you how to use the Basketball chat theme in the Instagram mobile application.
Note: These screenshots were captured in the Instagram app on iOS.
Step 1: Open the Instagram conversation you want to customize and tap the conversation name at the top of the screen.
Step 2: Tap “Theme.”
Step 3: Tap the “Basketball” chat theme. Note: There is no preview screen or confirmation window. Once you tap the Basketball chat theme, the conversation will be updated.
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Messenger released a “Basketball” chat theme that adds a basketball court to a conversation’s background. When this theme is activated, the conversation’s “Quick reaction” emoji will automatically change to the basketball player emoji.
Our guide will show you how to use the Basketball chat theme in the Messenger application.
Note: These screenshots were captured in the Messenger app on iOS.
Step 1: Open the Messenger conversation you want to customize and tap the conversation name at the top of the screen.
Step 2: Tap “Theme.”
Step 3: Tap the “Basketball” chat theme.
Step 4: Tap the “Select” button in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
