Snapchat update: App lets ‘face-swapping’ feature use pictures from people's camera roll

The new update also drops the ‘pay-to-reply’ feature, meaning that people can’t pay to watch snaps again anymore

A man uses Snapchat on an iPhone (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Snapchat is now letting anyone face-swap with pictures in their camera roll, changing a feature that had already taken over every social network.

The new feature allows people to swap their faces onto someone else’s body, or vice versa, without having to stand next to them and awkwardly fit two people into the frame.

Snapchat’s face-swapping feature has led to it apps that offer similar features to spread across social networks, leading to people face-swapping the queen and ancient statues.

Now people will be able to do that without having to actually take the picture. The new feature means people can face swap with any picture that was previously taken or is downloaded into the phone’s camera roll.

The same update brings with it the removal of Snapchat’s pay-to-replay feature. That allowed people to pay a small price to watch a snap again – but that has now been dropped, in favour of letting people re-watch just one snap per day.

Snapchat has been gradually removing its paid-for features, which also included a store for buying new filters, instead looking to make money by offering marketing deals like sponsored lenses.

The feature is enabled through an update. It’s already available on iOS now, and appears to be gradually rolling out on the Google Play store.