Touch is no longer a requirement for Snapchat Lenses

Snapchat is giving “no hands” a new meaning by introducing Lenses that a user controls with his or her voice.

We’ve seen Bitmoji lenses, enhanced iPhone X ones, and some that react to sound. This is the first time that a specific word can control a Lens in the app.

Yes, you’ll be able to say “Look Ma, No Hands” and have an effect on screen — although that is not a code word at launch. In a similar fashion to ‘Hey Siri,’ ‘Alexa,’ or ‘OK Google,’ only certain words work.

For this first iteration, saying OK, Hi, Love, or Wow will start a Lens within the app. 

The app can only recognize single words at once, but all of them will trigger some effect on the screen. It will also have instructions pop-up guiding users through this new way to interact.

I’ve had a few hours to play around with these new lenses, and they are really fun. It seems more natural to use your voice to control them and just by saying “Wow” you can have an awesome effect appear. 

My favorite one thus far has to be the “Love” one which overlays a pink color gradient and plays some uptempo yet kind of funky jazz music. 

These new voice-controlled Lenses are rolling out to Snapchat users starting today. Time will tell if Instagram chooses to clone these, but if history repeats itself, it will likely be a matter of weeks. In the meantime, Snapchat has a cool and fun feature that will likely please users.

Furthermore, while I never thought the 3D dancing Bitmoji ones would lose their place in my heart, these new voice-controlled lenses have won that spot for now.