Snapchat remains immensely popular even after 10 years, mainly due to its unique messaging feature. Unlike other services, anything you send will disappear shortly after viewing (unless you choose otherwise). Another selling point is its “Snapstreak,” which counts and displays the number of consecutive days users have sent each other snaps.
If you're looking to use Snapchat and start streaks, you've come to the right place. Below, we'll reveal everything you need to know to start the streaks and keep them going.
Snapchat Series
"Streaks" and "Snapstreaks" refer to the same functionality. A streak will begin when you send snaps to a friend for three consecutive days. Each streak will only be between you and a friend, which means you can maintain more than one streak at a time.
After sending snaps to people for three consecutive days, a fire emoji will appear next to their names. You can also see a number next to the fire emoji to indicate how long the streak lasted. For example, a "60" will show you that your streak with that person lasted almost two months.
The next milestone is the “100” emoji, which will only appear after continuing the streak for that many days. Beyond that, there are no other default unique emojis.
There are rumors of a mountain emoji only surfacing after incredibly long streaks, but no one has been able to confirm its existence. Snapchat itself has never confirmed or denied it. We can only be sure in the future whether it actually exists.
Start a sequence
To start a streak on Snapchat, you need to send a snap to someone you know. Here are the steps:
- Add a friend (or more) on Snapchat.
- Send a snap to one or more of them.
- Wait for them to send another one.
- Repeat the above steps daily for as long as possible.
Snapshots refer to images or videos. It doesn't matter how short the video is or how random your shots are. The only requirement is that you send a photo or video to your friend every day.
Need to Know Series
Sequences must continue every day, or they will end. Once they're gone, you'll have to start over by sending snaps to your friends for three consecutive days. Unfortunately, this will happen every time you forget to continue the chain, and there are no exceptions.
To help you remember, there will be an hourglass emoji appearing next to a streak. It will only appear when there are four hours left. Once you see it, we recommend sending a snap immediately.
Of course, if you send snaps on time, the hourglass emoji won't show up.
Change Sequence Emojis
The default serial emoji is the fire emoji, but you can also change it to anything available on emoji keyboards. If you don't like seeing the flame every time, here's how to change it.
- Launch Snapchat on your mobile device.
- Tap your profile picture in the top left corner.
- Look for the gear icon and select it.
- Scroll down and tap "Customize emojis".
- Scroll down to the new menu again and select "Snapstreak!" »
- There, many emojis will appear and you can choose one.
Changing the emoji will not add to the sequence or reset it, as it is only a cosmetic adjustment. You can even change it daily to spice up your application. It all depends on your personal preferences.
How to Troubleshoot Streaks
Snapchat isn't perfect, and sometimes you'll find that precious footage from years past vanishes into thin air. This is when you should contact customer service and explain what happened. Make sure your snaps folder is clean and that you didn't forget to send one the night before.
When you go to Snapchat's support page, you'll see a myriad of issues to report. The “I lost my Snapstreak” option is what you will want to choose.
Once a representative has verified your snaps and logs, they will respond to you via email. Hopefully they will restore your streak so you can continue it.
Interactions that don't count for streaks
Apart from sending photos and videos, Snapchat offers several other methods of interaction. However, not all of those listed below count as a sequence.
While you can send disappearing text messages through Snapchat, these don't count in the streak.
Stories are videos that tell what happened in a day. Although subscribers can still view them, it will not add to your instant channel.
Sometimes old events resurface after a year or other anniversaries. You can share them a second time, but they don't affect your streak at all.
As we mentioned, the streaks are between two people, but communicating there won't help the count even if you're both in the same group chat. Only snaps sent directly to the person will count.
Tips for Snapchat streaks
Starting a streak is not easy because you or your friend can easily forget it. Here are some tips to help.
- Find someone willing to keep a streak
Of course, when the two of you are willing to send each other snaps on a daily basis, chances are you won't be so easily forgotten.
- Make sure the friend's name stays on top
To follow the tips above, you can change your friend's name to start with the letter A. Snapchat lists the streaks alphabetically, which means you'll always see the most extensive and crucial examples. first.
This trick is also useful if your friend uses strange symbols or letters in their username.
- Send a “Hello” Snap
You can clean up and send a morning photo to a friend when you get out of bed. Since they will likely react, this is a great way to weed out the streak of streaks sooner.
- Consider starting the streak on an important day
By starting on a momentous occasion, you'll have something to look back on once the streak continues for a year. It will also be easier to remember overall.
- If not in the morning, later in the day
One benefit of starting in the evening is that you're less likely to see the hourglass emoji. You tend to have more time in the evening, and sending a snap is almost effortless. This option is best for people who have busier mornings.
As you may have to juggle several sequences at once, you may forget who to shoot daily. Before sending a snap, you can check the filters and search for the streaks filter. This will show you how many days the streak lasted.
You won't have to check your friends list anymore after using this cheat.
Still many years to go
With these tips in mind, you can maintain a Snapchat streak for a long time. If you think you can't handle too many, it's still okay to just use one. You can gradually start more chains later when you are comfortable.
How long is or was the longest streak you have continued? How many sequences can you juggle at once? Let us know in the comments section below.
