Snapchat app is best known for its peculiar and large collection of filters. However, the picture or a “snap” you take using Snapchat with filters is of low quality. Have you ever noticed the bad quality of Snapchat photos? Why is the Snapchat camera bad? If you are curious about why snapchat photos are of dull quality and how you can improve it, this article answers all your queries.
Answer:
Snapchat camera is bad because of:
1. Phone camera quality
2. Unoptimized for your phone model
3. Outdated Snapchat and OS
4. Screenshot of Live Preview
5. Snapchat cache is full, and so on
7+ Reasons Why The Snapchat Camera Is Bad
Snapchat is popularly known for its ability to add filters while taking pictures, but its downfall is that the quality of pictures it takes is very low. If the quality is abnormally less, you have to take certain actions. This article explains such actions briefly, so I suggest you go thoroughly from top to bottom.
The Snapchat camera can take bad pictures because of many reasons rather than a particular one. If you have noticed abnormal changes in the quality of photos taken by Snapchat, the problem can be:
Screenshot Of Live preview
The mechanism of Snapchat is taking a screenshot of the camera’s live preview rather than taking an actual picture through the camera. Due to this, the snap quality decreases; however, it takes less space in the server and processes faster.
Phone Camera Quality
The problem can sometimes be with your mobile phone, not the Snapchat app. First, try taking pictures with a normal phone camera and Snapchat, and compare both pictures. If the picture taken with the phone camera is also bad, the problem is with your camera.
Unoptimized For Your Phone Model
At times, Snapchat can be unoptimized for your phone model. During such a scenario, the camera is affected and hence takes a blurry or low-quality picture even though your phone’s camera works well. Some of the optimized phone models are iPhone 14 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, Google Pixel 6 Pro, Honor Magic 4 Pro, and many more.
Full Snapchat Cache
All the software stores frequently used features and instructions on the cache to be more efficient and fast, and so does Snapchat. As a result, the cache can occasionally be full, reflecting the problem on the lens. You can clear the Snapchat cache very easily, though.
Outdated Snapchat And OS
Snapchat tries to add new features now and then. So if your picture quality on Snapchat decreases, it might be because you didn’t update the Snapchat app. Also, when your phone’s OS is updated, you must update third-party apps.
Snapchat Bugs
Snapchat glitches and bugs are the major issues that cause problems with the picture qualities of Snapchat. Unfortunately, if this is the case, you might have to wait until the Snapchat app fixes the problem. You cannot perform any action from an individual side when Snapchat is affected by bugs.
Bad Internet Connection
Since Snapchat works entirely on Internet, the bad connection of the Internet has so much to do with the picture quality and camera of Snapchat. So, a poor Internet connection can cause capturing blur pictures or displaying an unclear image.
Dusty Camera
Due to a dusty camera as well, your picture can be unclear and unfocused. On the odd occasion, the problem can be with external factors such as dust on the camera than with internal software. You can simply wipe the dust off and are good to go.
The solutions to all these problems are in the middle of the article, so I suggest you not skip and read until you reach the solution section.
Can You Change The Snapchat Camera Quality?
Yes, you can change the Snapchat camera quality; however, there is always a gap between the standards of pictures taken from the normal phone camera and the Snapchat camera.
If the internal software problem (bugs, updates, patches) is causing the quality reduction, it fixes over time. But it is somewhat impossible if something external is causing the problem, like phone camera pixels or the phone’s optimization property.
How To Make Snapchat Camera Quality Better?
Some of the reasons why Snapchat starts taking bad pictures are solvable, like internet problems, Snapchat cache, etc., and some are unsolvable, such as the live-preview mechanism. Solutions to the solvable problems to make Snapchat Camera Quality better are as follows:
Look For A Good Internet Connection
If the Internet connection is poor, turn the WiFi off and again turn it on and then observe if the WiFi gains the stable. If you have access to multiple WiFi connections, try changing the network to a stable one. Hence, you can follow the below-mentioned steps to turn your WiFi on and off:
Step 1: First, if you have a security PIN on your phone, enter the PIN and unlock your phone.
Step 2: Hold and swipe down the area from the top of the screen.
Step 3: You will see many options; tap on the WiFi icon. Hence, your WiFi turns off.
Step 4: Now, wait for a while.
Step 5: Again, tap on the same WiFi icon, and the WiFi turns on.
Clean Your Phone’s Camera
Sometimes, dust on the camera is the problem behind unclear and blur photos. Clean your phone’s camera and take a photo, then check if this regains the quality. Remember to use a soft piece of cloth to wipe the dust off. If the material of the cloth is hard, you might scratch the camera lens.
Delete Lens Cache
You can also try deleting the lens cache data if the cache is almost full and see if it was the one creating the problem. To delete the Snapchat cache, you can follow these steps:
Step 1: First of all, open the Snapchat app.
Step 2: Now, tap on the profile icon at the top left corner of the screen; this will redirect you to your Snapchat profile.
Step 3: Go to your “Settings” by selecting the gear icon from the screen’s top-right side.
Step 4: Then scroll down until you reach the “Account actions” section.
Step 5: Next, tap on the “Clear cache” option, the first option in the “Account actions” section.
Step 6: Finally, tap “Clear all” on iOS and “Continue” on Android.
Go through my “How to clear the Snapchat cache on iOS and Android?” article to better understand this topic.
Update The Snapchat App
It would help if you kept your Snapchat up-to-date because sometimes new updates can create problems with the older software version. If you have not updated your Snapchat app, this is probably the cause of the bad Snapchat camera. To update the Snapchat app, follow these steps:
Step 1: First, open Google Play on Android or App Store on iOS.
Step 2: You will find a search bar at the top of the interface. So, type “Snapchat” on the search bar.
Step 3: Now, tap on the first option that pops up, named “Snapchat.”
Step 4: You will see an “Update” option near the Snapchat icon if any updates are available. Click on the “Update” option, and your Snapchat starts updating.
Update Your Phone’s OS
At times, your OS can also interfere with third-party app features. If none of the solutions work in your favor, update your OS and observe if it solves your problem.
When you get an OS update notification on your phone, always click on it and follow all the instructions. This way, you can prevent other features from dysfunctioning over time.
Restart Your Phone
When you are repeatedly on your phone, unwanted instructions and software features could occupy the memory and other storage, which can indirectly cause a problem with the Snapchat camera. Therefore, I suggest you restart the phone.
To Restart Android
Step 1: First, press the power button(usually located at the top or right side of the phone) for 4-5 seconds.
Step 2: Now, you will see a restart option on your screen; click on the restart option, and the phone restarts itself.
To Restart iPhone
Step 1: First, simultaneously press the power and volume up buttons.
Step 2: Click on the shutdown option, as most iPhones don’t have a restart option.
Step 3: Finally, long Press the power once again to turn on the phone.
Reopen The Snapchat App
Sometimes simply closing the Snapchat app and opening it can solve the Snapchat camera-related issues. Hence, close all the apps running in the background and open the Snapchat app, which might help your problem.
Take Pictures From Normal Camera And Upload To Snapchat
One on thousand times, your phone can be unoptimized to use Snapchat. Therefore, in this case, I suggest you take a picture from your phone’s normal camera and later upload it to Snapchat. Read How To Add Snapchat Filters On Camera Roll Pictures?
What Are The Properties Of The Picture You Take From Your Snapchat Camera?
When you take a picture using the original Snapchat app, the picture’s original property is 1080 pixels wide and 1920 pixels tall. The dimension of such a picture is primitively 9:16.
Why Do People Look Different Through Snapchat Camera Than Normal Camera?
The regular camera on our phone shows us what we look like. However, Snapchat shows us what we are used to looking at. Snapchat camera flips our faces and displays what we see in a mirror. Also, the Snapchat app follows the beauty standard the world sets where you will see your face well symmetric, with bigger eyes, no bumps, and many more.
Is Snapchat Camera Making Us Forget Who We Are?
Filters on Snapchat make our faces look symmetric and without bumps, lips plumper, bigger eyes, thin face, and a more “appealing” side. But unfortunately, with the everyday use of Snapchat, people gradually forget what they look like.
Programmers designed Snapchat to present people’s appearance per the world’s beauty standards. If you are a Snapchatter, you might have found the difference in how you feel about your face when you click pictures from Snapchat and a normal camera, haven’t you?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
I advise you to go through the FAQs section, where you may find further Snapchat-related questions and issues that may help you better understand other Snapchat features.
How To Fix Snapchat Camera Zoom Issue?
Recently, Snapchatters have complained that the zoom feature in their Snapchat camera is not working properly, meaning sometimes it zooms out more than required or does not even zoom. This problem exists in both the front and rear cameras. If you have a similar issue, I suggest you go through How to fix the Snapchat camera zoom issue?
What Are The Ways To Fix Black Screen Issue On Snapchat?
I discovered why the Snapchat screen turns black and does not allow me to take pictures/videos: snapchat bugs, cache full, older version of Snapchat, and many more. You might also be facing this problem. To make your Snapchat work normally, the article 10 ways to fix the Snapchat black screen issue will help you.
Why Is Snapchat Not Working?
Though Snapchat is a well-established app, it gets many reports because features of Snapchat crash time and again. For example, Snapchat stops responding due to slow Internet, less storage, un-update version of Snapchat, and many other reasons. However, you can solve these problems in quick and easy steps.
I have a whole article about Why Snapchat is not Working?; read it for more information.
Conclusion
Camera and photo/video quality are a breakpoint of the Snapchat app. The Snapchat camera can sometimes be affected by internal software or external factors. But, most of the time, updating the Snapchat app, restarting the phone, having a strong Internet connection, deleting cache, and other simple steps can improve the quality of the picture taken through Snapchat.
I hope you can now diagnose the actual problem with your Snapchat camera and sort it out easily.
