Snapchat Emojis: What Do They Mean?

Our lives in the digital world are moving faster than most of us imagined. From sending messages through pigeons and postal mails, and waiting for their replies, we have now reached a time where you could send a text to a person in just a few seconds.

Even though most of our communication is based on texts, “Emojis” has helped us express our feelings clearly.

These add some fun to your messages, and when you are having trouble finding the correct word to say what you feel, don’t fret; use emojis. This is not only a great way of communication, but also it lightens the conversation.

Similarly, Snapchat has also changed the way we communicate with people. But, if you’re someone new in the world of Snapchat, you might have a tough time figuring out how the app works and what the Snapchat Emojis mean.

In this article, we’ll explain how these were introduced and what they mean. So let’s dive right into it.

Understanding The Snapchat Emojis

Snapchat had introduced these emojis in the form of a tracking tool. These track the activity between you and your friends who are on Snapchat.

To be clear, they track how many snaps you have sent to friends, for how long you have been friends with someone, the pattern of interaction, etc. These factors would decide what sort of emoji would appear in your profile.

For example, if you frequently interact with a friend by sending snaps daily, you might see a yellow heart emoji right next to their name. It means that this person is your #1 best friend.

When Snapchat was in development, it had another feature: you could see the best friends of other users. That is, anyone could see who you were talking to the most.

A significant number of users were stressed about this as it raised a lot of privacy concerns. And due to the backlash, Snapchat decided to roll back this feature.

Snapchat Emojis And Their Meaning

Snapchat mainly has Nine emojis that appear beside the user’s name. All these may vary on Android or iOS devices. There may be minor differences between the emojis seen in this article and the app.

1. Besties Emoji

If you see this emoji besides your friend’s name, this shows that they are your #1 best friend. It means that both of you have sent the most number of snaps to each other. The colour of this emoji changes after two weeks when the streaks are maintained.

2. Best Friend Forever “BFF” Emoji

When you remain on your best friend’s list for two weeks, the yellow heart changes to a red heart. You’ll see this change of colour besides the user’s name. If you maintain this for a while, you’ll achieve the Super BFF emoji.

3. Super BFF Emoji

If you see these two heart emojis right next to your friend’s name, it shows that you might be very close to them. Snapchat gives this emoji only when someone has been your Snapchat BFF for more than two months. Cheers to you for maintaining the Streak! 

4. Best Friends “BFs” Emoji

If you see a smiling face besides your friend’s name, it shows that they are one of your Eight BFs on Snapchat. 

It indicates that both of you send each other many snaps, but they are not at the top of your BF lists yet.

5. Mutual BFs Emoji

The Mutual Best Friend Emoji is a smiley with shades or sunglasses. This emoji means that you and another user have a familiar friend. To put it simply, both of you share the same best friend. It shows that a user from your BF list is also on someone else’s BF list. 

6. Mutual Besties Emoji

The smiley itself expresses the meaning of this emoji. This emoji means that a Best Friend from your list who shares a lot of snaps is also on another user’s list. 

7. Birthday Emoji

As the name suggests, it’s an emoji of a cake. So when you see this emoji next to the user’s name, it’s time to wish them a Happy Birthday! 

8. Snap Streak Emoji

What is Snap Streak, you ask? It is an emoji of a flame that appears when you share snaps with another friend for a couple of days in a row. 

You can keep up your Streak just by sending Snaps daily. You can see this flame right next to your friend’s name when you exchange snaps for more than two days.

When the Streak follows for a certain number of days, a number shall appear beside the emoji. This will indicate for how long the Streak has been going on.

9. Snap Streak About to End Emoji

If you see an hourglass emoji besides your friend’s name, then get your Snap Streak game going. This emoji shows that your Streak with a friend is about to end. This is a reminder of sorts that tells you to start sharing your snaps with your friends.

How To Customise Your Emojis?

All of the nine emojis that we discussed are the default options in Snapchat. However, the app allows you to customise these emojis to your liking. Along with this, you can customise your Friend Emojis too. For example, you could change the Red Heart Emoji to a Strawberry Emoji or any other one you prefer.

For Android Users

• Go to ‘My Profile’
• Tap on the settings icon
• Select ‘Additional Services’ by scrolling down the options
• Tap ‘Manage’
• Select ‘Friend Emojis’
• And customise as you like

For iOS users

• Go to ‘My Profile’
• Tap on the ‘Settings’ icon
• Select ‘Customise Emojis’
• Customise as you like

Snapchat Achievement Emojis

Other than the nine default emojis, Snapchat shows some more emojis called Achievement or Trophies emojis. These will appear in your profile when you have completed a particular task within the app. Here are the emojis that you should look out for.

1. Pointed Finger Emoji

This emoji indicates that you have sent a snap that has one filter applied.

2. Peace Sign Emoji

This emoji shows that you have sent a Snap with two filters applied.

3. Smiling Sun Emoji

This emoji appears when you send a snap with a temperature filter of more than a hundred degrees in Fahrenheit.

4. Snowflake Emoji

This emoji shows that you have sent a snap with a temperature filter below the freezing point.

5. Panda Bear Emoji

This emoji means you have sent 50 snaps with a Black and White filter.

6. Globe Emoji

This emoji shows that the user has posted a live story.

7. Babyface Emoji

This emoji shows that you have achieved a Snapchat score of 10.

8. Gold Star Emoji

If you see this emoji, it means that you got a Snapchat score of 100.

9. Sparkling Star Emoji

This emoji appears when you get a Snapchat score of 1,000.

10. Shooting Star Emoji

This emoji will appear when you get a Snapchat score of 10,000.

11. Explosion Emoji

This emoji appears when you get a Snapchat score of 50,000.

12. Rocket Emoji

This emoji means that you got a Snapchat score of 1,00,000.

13. Ghost Emoji

When you see this emoji, it means that you got a Snapchat score of 5,00,000!

14. Videotape Emoji

This emoji shows up when you send a video snap.

15. Movie Camera Emoji

When you send 50 video snaps, this emoji will appear.

16. Small Video Camera Emoji

This icon appears when you send the 500th video snap.

17. Frying Pan Emoji

When you see this emoji, it means that you have sent a snap between 4 AM and 5 AM. 

18. Blue Circle Emoji

This emoji appears when you create a story in Memory.

19. White Circle Emoji

This emoji shows that you sent a story from Memory.

20. Wide-Eyes Emoji

This shows that set up the ‘My Eyes Only’ part of memories in the app.

Message Status Icons

Even though these are not emojis, these icons can be equally as confusing as the emojis. These icons show the status of the snap or the message you have sent to your friend. For instance, if they have read your text, or if they have opened your snap, etc. 

Following are the main Status Icons in Snapchat.

1. Red Arrow

A red arrow is shown when there’s no audio in the snap you shared. When this icon becomes hollow, it means that your friend has opened it.

2. Purple Arrow

This icon appears when the snap you shared has audio. This icon will become hollow when the recipient views your snap.

3. Blue Arrow

This icon is shown when you send a chat. When this icon becomes hollow, it means that the user has opened the chat.

4. Green Arrow

A hollow green arrow shows that your friend safely received the cash you sent via Snapcash.

5. Gray Arrow

This icon shows that the snap you sent was shared with a person who is not on your list. 

6. Red Square

This icon means that the snap you got doesn’t have any audio. A hollow red square means you have opened this snap. 

7. Purple Square

This icon indicates that the snap you got has audio. A hollow purple square means you have viewed this snap.

8. Blue Chat

This icon appears when you receive a chat. It becomes hollow once you have read the conversation.

9. Gray Chat

This appears when the snap has expired or if it’s pending.

10. Double Red Arrows

When a Snapshot is taken on your snap with no audio, this icon will appear.

11. Double Purple Arrows

This icon appears when someone takes a Snapshot of your Snap sent with audio.

12. Double Blue Arrows

This icon appears when someone takes a Snapshot of your chat.

13. Red Replayed Icon

When this icon appears in the chat, it means that the snap you sent without the audio has been replayed by someone else.

14. Purple Replayed icon

This icon appears in the chat when someone replays the snap, which has audio that you shared.

Final Thoughts

Knowing these emojis are a fun way to use Snapchat. The main aim from Snapchat’s perspective is to keep its users engaged. It encourages the users to use the app by psychologically exploiting their fear of losing Snap Streaks and drives the daily active usage through the roof.  

We have covered all the basic and some lesser-known emojis in this article, and believe that this article will undoubtedly help you get the hang of this fun feature from Snapchat.

Do feel free to give your thoughts about this feature.