What do the icons under messages mean in Snapchat?

Snapchat is one of the most popular and important social networks of the moment. It's especially popular with younger, more tech-savvy audiences. Snapchat is designed to send temporary photos and videos to your friends, or post stories that last twenty-four hours for your selected friends to see. Despite its success, Snapchat has a reputation for being difficult to use, with weird UI decisions and other elements that can make it hard to figure out what you're doing on a specific page.

Aside from all the symbols, it can be difficult for new users to figure out if someone has added them in Snapchat, read their messages, etc. Once you better understand the meaning of each of these symbols, Snapchat becomes a much easier to navigate social media tool. Let's see what the different boxes, arrows and other symbols mean in Snapchat.

What do the different colored boxes mean in Snapchat?

• The gray box symbol usually appears when you have never taken a photo with another person. It could also indicate that a user has blocked you or hasn't accepted your friend request. The gray color basically means that an action is pending.

  

• A filled red box means your Snap without audio was sent to the recipient and not viewed. An unfilled red box means your Snap without audio has been sent to the recipient and has been viewed.

  

• A filled purple box means your Snap without audio was sent to the recipient and not viewed. An unfilled purple box means your Snap with audio was sent to the recipient and viewed.

  

  
  
  
• A filled blue box means your Snap without audio was sent to the recipient and not viewed. An unfilled blue box means your chat has been viewed.

  

What do the different colored arrows mean in Snapchat?

• The filled red arrow just means you sent a Snap with no audio. The hollow red arrow means your Snap without audio has been opened.

  

• The filled purple arrow means you've sent a Snap with audio. The hollow purple arrow means your Snap with audio has been opened.

  

• The solid blue arrow means you are sending a chat. The hollow blue arrow means your chat has been opened.

  

• The solid gray arrow means the person you sent a friend request to hasn't accepted it yet.

  

And the other symbols?

There are other icons used to signify different chat or Snap view status.

• A red circular arrow means your Snap without audio has been replayed.

  

• A purple circular arrow means your Snap with audio has been replayed.

  

  
  
• A red double arrow with three lines means someone took a screenshot of your Snap without audio.

  

• A purple double arrow of the same design means someone took a screenshot of your Snap with audio.

  

• A blue double arrow means someone took a screenshot of your chat.

  

  
  

Again, there are a lot of icons to master, but the system is so simple that it won't take too long to memorize them all. If you start by remembering that red icons mean Snaps without audio, purple means Snaps with audio, and blue is for chats, you can build from there. It's a simple system so you'll quickly master it.

Additional FAQs

Why are my photos not being sent?

If your snaps are stuck pending, it may mean that the recipient has deleted or blocked your account. Assuming a snap isn't sent and nothing shows up at all, it's probably your internet connection. This can happen if your internet connection is not strong enough. Try switching between wifi and cellular data if possible. Also, completely close the app and restart it if your snaps don't go through.

What is heart of gold in Snapchat?

We get a lot of questions about the golden heart appearing under a friend's name on Snapchat. So what does this mean? It just means that you sent that person more Snaps than anyone else and they did the same to you. It's Snapchat's best friend icon and it just means you've been more active with them than your other friends.

There's also a red heart for a best friend over 2 weeks and a pink heart for the person you've been friends with for over two months. It's the Snapchat BFF icon.