Snapchat rolls out next generation of Scan to Snap camera

You can now use the Snap camera to do more than just scan QR codes.

Snapchat's new Camera Shortcuts (Snapchat)

Snapchat had introduced Scan two years ago to make it easier for its users to access the world around them with the Snap camera. Now the platform is rolling out its next generation of Scan with increased functionality that will allow users to find helpful experiences across categories like fashion, food, plants, etc. The next generation Scan has already begun rolling out globally to iOS users and Android users will be getting it over the next few weeks.

Initially, when Snapchat rolled out Scan, it was restricted to scanning Snapcodes to unlock AR experiences. The company realised that this was rather limiting and has now upgraded the experience to add more possibilities to it.

Scan was designed to match what you see through the Camera to relevant AR experiences on Snapchat, allowing you to discover Lenses, including those created by partners and Snap's public community - the Lens Studio. Scan's first partners featured use cases like homework or discovering music. So while listening to music, you could Scan for the song that's playing through integration with Shazam, and in a partnership with Photomath, you could point the Snapchat Camera to a math equation and see the solution appear on camera.

The new generation of Scan makes it faster and easier to find the right Lens and for businesses and developers, Scan can now help with experiences by bridging the physical one with the virtual one. The next generation Scan will also offer suggestions for different ways to use the Camera, including Camera Shortcuts and unique shopping capabilities.

Snap is also going to keep adding new categories of intelligence to Scan, and over the next few months and in the future, Scan is expected to bring in more experiences on mobile and the next generation Spectacles.

The new Scan allows users to scan dogs and helps identify over 400 breeds of dogs, scan plants to learn about them, Shazam to recognise a song you are listening to, Photomath for those math solutions, scan a car to learn about the make, model, price, scan food to get ratings on the quality of ingredients, etc.