More Pixel-First Snapchat Features Are Coming

Google often launches Pixel phones with exclusive features unavailable to other Android phones or even to some of its older Pixels. Of course, most of those were developed by Google itself or involved Google's apps and services. With the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, however, Google has partnered with social media giant Snapchat for a number of exclusives, starting with the ability to quickly take a Snap right from the lock screen without having to authenticate to unlock the phone first.

Different manufacturers have developed different ways to launch an app directly from the lock screen, often by pressing a specific button or a combination of buttons. Google's idea was to use the back of its Pixel phone as a tapping board for your finger. Cleverly named "Quick Tap," it's a feature on the Pixel 6 that Snapchat is only too happy to utilize.

Called Quick Tap to Snap, the feature would let Snapchat users jump directly into the app's Camera mode when users double-tap the Pixel 6's back. From here, users can immediately create Snaps and even play with Lenses without first going through the phone unlock process. Of course, in order to access the rest of the app, you'll have to unlock the phone first.

The partnership between Google and Snapchat won't stop there, though. Snap teases more features to come, including exclusive AR Lenses, live translation in Snapchat's camera and chat, and more. Snapchat is also the first third-party app to take advantage of the Pixel 6 front camera's full wide-angle field-of-view.

It's definitely interesting that Google would choose to team up with Snapchat in particular for the Pixel 6. The tech giant has definitely been trying to push customization and personalization as highlights of its 2021 flagship, themes that would appeal to the same demographic that Snapchat targets. The Quick Tap to Snap, however, might not be a Pixel-exclusive forever, but, at least for now, it tries to make the phone sound more in touch with younger consumers.