Snapchat adds On-Demand Geofilter Creation to iPhone app

Snapchat has released a mobile creative studio for iPhone users in United States. Starting from $5.99, Snapchatters will be able to create and submit personalized geo-filters directly in the iOS app. The mobile creative studio is located in Settings > On-Demand Geofilters in the Snapchat app. Although custom geofilters are not a new addition to the app’s features, the creation tool is being introduced on mobile devices for the first time. Previously, custom geo-filter creation was web based only.

The functionality of the mobile creative studio is similar to the web based studio. Simply pick an event from the app’s pre-set occasions, choose a template of your liking and then show your artistic side by decorating the selected template with Snapchat stickers, text or Bitmojis. Once you have finalized the design of the geofilter, specify the location and the duration of the geofilter’s availability in the desired vicinity by marking it on a map. In the end, submit it to Snapchat for approval.

The review and approval process takes a day, therefore plan for your events or occasions in advance if you want to design a special geo-filter for them. After approval, Snapchat will send you a push notification when your filter goes live. The cost of the filters starts from $5.99 and goes up with the increase in duration and the size of the coverage area. Filter’s payment is easily made via in-app purchase. You can monitor the use of the filter, number of views and total swipes of your filter via a dashboard designed for purchasers.

The creation tool has proven to be a success for the company as it claims that ‘tens of thousands’ of people develop filters everyday for various purposes like celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, campaigns, gather support for a cause and more. Therefore, Snapchat hopes that a mobile studio will increase the feature’s usage.

Currently On-Demand Geofilters are available in selected markets for both web and mobile. However, Snapchat plans to expand the feature to other places by introducing its web based studio first.