Snapchat’s redesigned camera can ‘scan’ for GIFs and help you with math homework

Snapchat’s camera is about to get a lot smarter.

The company unveiled new search features for its in-app camera, including the ability to search for GIFs and solve math equations. The new features were announced today at the company’s first Partner Summit event in Los Angeles. 

As part of the update, Snap is rebranding all of its camera-based search features as “scan,” including the existing Shazam and Amazon shopping functionality.

Other new search features announced today include:

• The ability to solve math problems, thanks to a new partnership with popular homework helper app Photomath

• The ability to find “contextually relevant” GIFs to match whatever you’re recording in the camera (via Giphy)

• A new lens search feature that surfaces user-created lenses based on whatever you’re snapping (e.g. a “scan” of your dog could turn up a dog-themed AR lens)

The new features represent a significant advancement for Snapchat’s camera technology. But, like so many other Snapchat features before, “Scan” is somewhat hidden in the app. You need to press and hold with the camera open in order to start a new “scan”.

Snap also unveiled several other updates aimed at creators who design their own AR lenses with the company’s Lens Studio software. Creators can now design “landmarkers,” a new type of lens you activate at specific landmarks, like the U.S. Capitol Building or Buckingham Palace. 

The latest version of Lens Studio has new templates for creators to build landmarker lenses, as well as templates for lenses that can follow hand and body movements and lenses that are able to detect the faces of your pets. Yup, this means more Snapchat lenses for your dog. Woof.