How to use Snapchat in the UAE

What exactly is Snapchat?

Snapchat is a common messaging app that allows users to send and receive photos and videos (called snaps) that are intended to vanish after being viewed. It's billed as a "modern form of camera" because its primary purpose is to take a photo or video, edit it with filters, lenses, or other effects, and then share it with friends. To add someone on Snapchat, you can search for their full name (e.g.Janet Rabe or, if you have it, their username on the platform. 

Despite fierce competition from other platforms, the Middle East region, especially the GCC, remains one of the most important for global social media giant Snapchat. Hussein Freijeh, GM of Snap Inc in the Middle East, announced that the tool's market side is one of the company's best globally.

In the Middle East, the monthly addressable scope has increased to 67 million unique Snapchatters. It comes after the company saw an 11 million rise in daily actives globally in Q3. Snap, on the other hand, recently recorded a 52 percent year-on-year rise in revenue to $679 million for the third quarter.

Snapchat's video calling feature allows chatting with people in a virtual face-to-face world a breeze. Unfortunately, a number of countries, including the United Arab Emirates, have blocked the app's video chat feature (UAE). The good news is that you can use a virtual private network to unblock Snapchat video calling in the UAE, making your communications safe, stable, private, and available from anywhere in the world.

With these VPNs, you can unblock Snapchat Video Calling from anywhere, including the UAE

• NordVPN – Best VPN for the UAE – NordVPN is one of the most common providers in Dubai, owing to its powerful site/app unblocking, unbreakable privacy provisions, and a solid logging policy that leaves no trace.
• Surfshark offers automatic obfuscation, advanced encryption, and an infinite number of concurrent connections.
• ExpressVPN provides low-latency video calls due to enhanced network performance.
• PrivateVPN – A small software with amazing potential to circumvent government censorship.

Is it legal to use a VPN in the United Arab Emirates?

The UAE's laws on the legality of using a VPN are completely misunderstood. The problem stems from a 2016 amendment to a federal law that makes it illegal to use a "false IP address or third party address... for the purpose of committing a crime or preventing its detection." 

Using a VPN to surf, stream, talk, or link to private networks is not prohibited by the UAE ruling. You are free to use them for anything you want, as long as you are not attempting to do anything that would usually be illegal.

What is the procedure for using Snapchat?

To register, all you need is your name, email address, and birth date. Snapchat users are identified by their handles, and snapchatters favor amusing names. You can either upload your contacts or check for people you know to add mates. You can also connect anyone automatically by photographing their "Snapcode," a special qr code that is unique to each person. Things start to get a little muddled after that. On Snapchat, images, not text, are usually used to initiate conversations. You tap the large camera circle and take a picture to start a conversation. There are a variety of photo-editing techniques (you'll have to experiment to find out what they do) as well as filters to enhance your photographs.

Set up a Snapchat Account Online

• Go to ads.snapchat.com.

• Next to 'New to Snapchat?

• Enter your name and a username

• Make a secure password that will be easy to remember

• Enter in a valid email address

• Enter your birthday

• You can then verify your account to secure it by downloading Snapchat on your phone

• Now you can use your username and password to access Ads Manager. Then you can begin advertising on Snapchat!

Set up a Snapchat Account on Your Mobile Device

 To set up your account on your mobile device

• First, you'll need to download the Snapchat app for iOS or Android

• Open the Snapchat app

• Tap 'Sign Up' to create a new account

• Enter your name and tap ‘Sign Up & Accept.’

• Enter your date of birth

• Create a username

• Make a secure password that will be easy to remember

Enter your phone number and verify it. This step is optional, but if you get locked out of your account for any reason, we'll now be able to send you a password reset link over SMS. You can also tap ‘sign up with email instead’ to sign up with your email

Now you can use your username and password to access Ads Manager. Then you can begin advertising on Snapchat!

What age is Snapchat suitable for?

To use Snapchat legally, you must be at least 13 years old (although like Instagram, many kids under 13 are already using it). If you are under the age of 18, you must obtain parental consent. Snapkidz is a version for children under the age of thirteen.

Is Snapchat a safe app?

Snapchat is much safer now that images and videos sent through the app are encrypted. However, just because your messages are encrypted does not guarantee that all of your data is secure.