Snapchat filters are a fun way to spice up your snaps and stories. The app offers a wide variety of filters, from basic color filters to lenses that morph your face into cute animals or popular characters. One of Snapchat’s features is the ability to unlock special filters for 48 hours when you’re at certain locations or events.
What are Snapchat filters?
Snapchat filters, also called lenses, are special effects and animations that you can overlay onto your snaps. There are several categories of Snapchat filters:
- Face filters – These filters modify or enhance aspects of your face, from adding freckles or glasses to making your face look older.
- World lenses – These filters incorporate 3D objects and augmented reality into your snaps, like dancing hot dogs or rainbow vomiting.
- Geofilters – These filters are specific designs and effects that can only be accessed in certain locations.
- Lenses – These are interactive filters that react to your facial expressions and movements.
- Bitmoji – These filters overlay your personalized Bitmoji avatar onto snaps.
Snapchat rolls out new filters on a daily basis to keep things fresh and trendy. You can browse and try out hundreds of different filters in the Snapchat app.
How do filters get unlocked?
Many Snapchat filters are available globally for all users all the time. However, there are special filters that only get unlocked when you’re in a specific location or attending a special event. These location-based and event-based filters typically get unlocked for 48 hours.
Here are the ways that special Snapchat filters can unlock for 48 hours:
Location-based filters
Snapchat has filters designed for popular destinations around the world. You can only access them when you’re physically within the geographic location. This includes cities, landmarks, neighborhoods, and camping grounds. Examples include Disneyland, Coachella Festival, Buckingham Palace, Machu Picchu, etc.
To access these filters, you need to have your phone’s location services enabled so that the Snapchat app can identify your location. The filters automatically unlock when you’re within the correct vicinity and remain available for 48 hours after you leave the location.
Event-based filters
Snapchat creates custom filters for major events like concerts, sporting events, festivals, conventions, etc. Any user who is at the live event venue can unlock the special event filter for 48 hours.
For example, Snapchat designed special filters for Lady Gaga’s 2017 Super Bowl halftime show that were only available to fans at the stadium during the performance. People could access the Lady Gaga halftime filters for two days after the event.
Holiday filters
Snapchat activates holiday-themed filters on the dates of major holidays. These filters are available globally for 48 hours. Examples include filters for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve, etc.
So even if you’re not in a location relevant to the holiday, you can still access the holiday filters for two days centering on the holiday date.
Sponsored filters
Businesses, brands, and organizations can pay Snapchat to create custom geofilters for specific locations and durations. For example, a cafe might pay for a custom “Visit Café Flora!” filter that unlocks for Snapchatters near the cafe for 48 hours.
Users can then access the branded filter for two days after visiting the business location.
When do the 48 hours start?
The 48 hour countdown begins at different times depending on the type of filter:
| Filter type | When 48 hours starts |
|---|---|
| Location | When you leave the location |
| Event | When the event ends |
| Holiday | On the holiday date |
| Sponsored | When you leave the business location |
So for location and sponsored filters, the 48 hours begins after you’ve left the place. For events and holidays, it starts from the date/time of the event or holiday.
How to tell when filters will expire
There are a couple ways to tell when your unlocked Snapchat filters will expire:
- Each unlocked filter will have an expiration countdown when you select it. This shows how many more hours it will be available.
- The timer resets to 48 hours every time you re-enter the location or event.
- You’ll get an in-app notification from Snapchat when a filter is about to expire.
- The filter will disappear from your filters list after the time expires.
Checking the countdown timers is the easiest way to see exactly when your exclusive filters will disappear.
Exceptions to the 48 hours
While most special Snapchat filters are available for 48 hours, there are some exceptions:
- Sponsored filters may be unlocked for shorter or longer durations, depending on how long the business purchased the filter.
- Major city geofilters and very popular event filters sometimes stick around for longer than 48 hours.
- Filters for holidays like Christmas or New Year’s Eve may be available for 72+ hours.
So while 48 hours is the standard, Snapchat has flexibility to extend extra popular filters beyond two days or shorten sponsored ones. But most users can expect a reliable 48 hours of access to unlocked filters.
Pro-Tip: How to save special Snapchat filters
If you want to save a custom geofilter or event lens beyond the 48-hour expiry:
- Screenshot the filter when you have it unlocked.
- Go to the Snapchat Lenses viewer page: www.snapchat.com/unlock.
- Click “Upload from Camera Roll” and select your filter screenshot.
- Use the preview tool to apply the filter to a new photo.
- Save the resulting photo to keep the filter forever!
Conclusion
Snapchat’s 48-hour filters add excitement to snaps when you’re visiting cool places or attending special events. The filters unlock automatically based on your location, and you can access them for two days after leaving the place or event. Pay attention to the countdowns to see exactly when your exclusive filters will expire.
With hundreds of new filters every year, there’s always a fun surprise waiting around the corner! Now you can enjoy every geofilter knowing that you’ve got a 48-hour window to make the most of it.