What Does Snapchat Memories Do, Exactly?

Snapchat recently announced Memories, a new feature that will allow you to create even more unique, personal, and memorable content. In the days since the announcement, though, a lot of us have been wondering, what does Snapchat Memories do, exactly? Well, good news: I have answers. While the social media platform is already an excellent place to capture moments you want to freeze in time, Memories has been designed specifically for commemorating and celebrating, and creating a piece of art that you can carry with you wherever you go. More than ever, Snapchat is giving users the autonomy to tell their own stories, in their own ways. When you get a closer look at what the feature is truly capable of, you're once again reminded of the power of social media.

What makes Memories even cooler is that there are actually several ways you can use it. It's not just about pasting together pretty Snaps. Memories seriously improves user-friendliness and has the power to make your overall Snapchat experience easier, faster, and more seamless. It solves a couple of nagging problems that many of us have faced, and turns Snapchat into one neat little toy.

Team Snapchat has been busy slowing rolling out Memories; and you'll know for sure if you have access to it because they'll send you a Snap about it. Either way, here's a handy guide regarding the different things you can use Memories for.

1. Save A Snap To Your Memories

This is probably the most basic function of Memories. When you take a Snap, you can save it to Memories with a quick click of an icon. This then gives you the option to do a whole bunch of other cool things, which I'll expand on below. Keep reading!

2. Build Stories Out Of Older Snaps You Saved To Memories

A bunch of Snaps makes a Story, and there's no limit to the Stories you can share. Whether it was your recent vacation in Hawaii or your college graduation, you can assemble Snaps into a memorable collage of pictures and videos. Think of it as a live photo album. Pretty sweet, right?

3. Combine Multiple Stories Into A Special Montage

You can take Memories one step further and combine Stories into their own big story. Maybe you have multiple Stories from a road trip you're taking, and you want to combine them all into one video. Memories is perfect for this!

4. Set Certain Snaps To Private

Nothing is more awkward than accidentally showing someone a pic or video they were never supposed to see. (Yikes.) Memories solves this problem with My Eyes Only — a new password-protected feature within Memories where you can save Snaps that are... for your eyes only. It's a really handy tool because it gives you the freedom to actually hand your phone over to a buddy to view your Memories, without worrying about what they might see.

My Eyes Only is so airtight that if you lose your passcode, not even Team Snapchat can save you. You have to start all over, meaning you'll lose whatever you had previously saved to My Eyes Only. Womp, womp, womp.

5. Easily Organize and Access The Snaps You Want

Gone are the days of endless scrolling to find that one Snap you want. Memories allows you to search specific keywords or tags (like "birthday," "anniversary," "October," etc.) to quickly and easily find what you're looking for. Your Snaps will be categorized for easy access, but still in a private manner, of course.

6. Edit And Send Snaps From Memories

Memories allows you to return to old Snaps, edit them, and send them once again. If you share an old Snap (that's at least 24 hours old), Memories puts a frame around it, along with the date it was taken. This is so people know that it isn't new.

Images: Snapchat (7)