How to Save Snapchat Pictures Without the Sender Knowing (Shhhh)

Daniel Bean
·Assistant Editor
Updated

Snapchat is a pretty sneaky app. The messaging service allows you to send pictures and videos that disappear forever within seconds of being viewed.

Or at least that’s the way it’s supposed to work.

Now, with the use of some new third-party apps, it’s possible to save these images without the sender knowing. This is a whole new level of sneaky going down, and mark us guilty for mischievously spreading the word.

Here are the apps and how to use them.

Android
SnapChat Save Pic replaces the official Snapchat app on your phone, and its layout is close to a spitting image of the real thing. To get started, you’ll just sign in the same way you normally would, and for the most part, the app functions the same way Snapchat does.

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The subtle differences appear on the Snap viewing screen. Here you’ll see a small troll face icon, as well as a Download button. By pressing the troll face, you can indicate to the sender that you’ve viewed his or her Snap. The Download button’s function is pretty self-explanatory: Tapping it will download the video or picture Snap that you’re looking at.

Save Pic also auto-saves all your Snaps within the app, so you can look at anything in your timeline screen, whether it’s been viewed already or not, to see it again. Of course, if for some reason you decide to view a Snap in the official app before pulling it up in Save Pic, the Snap will be lost forever.

iPhone
Snap Save, unlike its Android counterpart, is slightly different in appearance from the official Snapchat app, and you’ll actually need to upgrade to Pro ($2.99) to be granted the ability to save images to your Photos app. Still, the free version does automatically cache each Snap for unlimited viewing from within the app.

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Just log into Snap Save, and the next thing you’ll see is your Snapchat timeline. From here on out, any message you open first in Snap Save will be saved for later viewing.

Though you can’t save Snaps to your Photo app in the free version, you are allowed a few “grace” screenshots in Snap Save before the app begins sending your buddies alerts. It’s a ploy to get you to upgrade to the “save all you want, and we won’t tell” Pro version, no doubt. Still, we think the auto-cache feature in the non-Pro version is worth its price—which is free.

Note: You also cannot send Snaps with this sneaky iPhone version of Snapchat. Instead, you’ll have to log into the official app and do your picture taking and mustache doodling there. What makes this worse is that the Snapchat service allows only one session to be logged in at a time per account, so you’ll be forced to log back into the each each time you load it up. Annoying, we know.

But that’s how you can get extra sneaky on Snapchat. Please use the information responsibly, and if anyone asks where you found out how to do all this, you can tell them it’s Yahoo Tech’s fault. We’ll take the fall for this one.

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