# Snapcode > Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/snapcode > research date 2026-06-03 · extracted at 2026-10-06 > Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards Specifications: - [Snapcodes — Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapcodes) - [What can I scan with the Snapchat Camera? — Snapchat Support](https://help.snapchat.com/hc/en-us/articles/7012376161556-What-can-I-scan-with-the-Snapchat-Camera) ## Overview A **Snapcode** is Snap Inc.'s proprietary scannable code for the Snapchat app. In its original form it was a yellow rounded square containing the Snapchat "Ghost" logo surrounded by a pattern of black dots that encode a unique identifier [1][1]. Snapcodes are scanned with the Snapchat camera and are used to add friends, unlock Lenses and Geofilters, open Discover channels, and open web pages inside Snapchat's in-app browser [1][1][2][2]. ## History Snapcodes debuted on **27 January 2015**, alongside the launch of Snapchat's Discover content hub [1][1]. The scanning technology came from **Scan, Inc.**, a QR-code startup founded in **January 2011** in Provo, Utah by **Garrett Gee, Ben Turley, and Kirk Ouimet** while they were students at Brigham Young University [4][4]. Scan's QR app surpassed 1 million downloads within three months of its 2011 iOS launch and reached roughly 25 million downloads by December 2012 [4][4]. Snapchat acquired Scan in **2014 for about $54 million** (reported as roughly $30 million in cash and the remainder in equity), folding its technology into the Snapcode feature [4][4]. Website Snapcodes — codes that open an arbitrary URL inside Snapchat — launched on **31 January 2017** [1][1]. In **late 2022**, Snap redesigned the Snapcode into a more conventional QR code: a yellow background with stylized black dots, the user's **Bitmoji avatar** in the center instead of the Ghost, and links that resolve in standard QR readers as well as in Snapchat [1][1]. ## Technical specification Snap has not published a formal Snapcode specification. Publicly known characteristics: - The original (2015–2022) Snapcode placed the Ghost logo at the center of a yellow rounded square, ringed by black dots arranged in a fixed frame; the dot pattern encoded a unique account/identifier rather than arbitrary data [1][1]. - The 2022-era redesign is a **traditional QR code** rendered with Snap's yellow palette and rounded dot styling, with the Bitmoji at the center. Because it is QR-based, it is readable by generic QR scanners and resolves to a profile/web URL [1][1]. - The Snapchat camera can also scan ordinary QR codes and supports a broader "Scan" feature (e.g., recognizing products, music, and objects) beyond Snapcodes proper [2][2]. ## Use cases - Adding friends instantly by scanning their Snapcode [1][1]. - Unlocking augmented-reality **Lenses** and **Geofilters** [1][1]. - Opening **Discover** channels and, via Website Snapcodes (2017+), any URL inside Snapchat's in-app browser [1][1]. - Marketing: brands including McDonald's and Coca-Cola printed Snapcodes on packaging, and codes appeared on business cards, billboards, and concert screens [1][1]. ## Implementations There is **no official open-source Snapcode encoder or decoder.** Snapcodes are generated within Snapchat and via Snap's own tooling; the original dot-pattern format was proprietary and undocumented [1][1]. The post-2022 redesign, being QR-based, can be produced and read by standard QR tooling, but the styling/identifier conventions remain Snap's [1][1]. ## Comparison The original Snapcode chose a bespoke dot-in-ghost-frame symbology over QR primarily for branding — it made a scannable code instantly recognizable as "Snapchat" and reinforced the Ghost mascot [3][3]. The cost was incompatibility with generic scanners and lower data capacity than QR (it essentially carried only an account identifier). Snap's 2022 move back to a QR-based design — reportedly to improve interoperability and reliability — mirrors a broader industry pattern of branded codes converging on standard QR underneath a custom skin [1][1]. ## Fun facts - Scan co-founder Garrett Gee pitched the Scan app on ABC's *Shark Tank* in 2013; the investors declined, the year before Snapchat bought the company for $54 million [4][4]. - Within months of the 2015 launch, Snap reported that millions of Snapcodes were being scanned every week [1][1]. - Snapchat is widely credited with making QR-style codes feel "cool" again in the West years before pandemic-era QR adoption took off [3][3]. ## Status **Active.** Snapcodes remain part of Snapchat, now in their QR-based, Bitmoji-centered form, scannable via the Snapchat camera and (since the redesign) by general-purpose QR readers [1][1][2][2]. ## Sources [1] [Snapcodes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapcodes) — Wikipedia, 2024 [2] [What can I scan with the Snapchat Camera?](https://help.snapchat.com/hc/en-us/articles/7012376161556-What-can-I-scan-with-the-Snapchat-Camera) — Snapchat Support, 2024 [3] [How Snapchat Made QR Codes Cool Again](https://techcrunch.com/2015/05/04/snapcode/) — TechCrunch, 2015 [4] [Scan (company)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scan_(company)) — Wikipedia, 2024 [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapcodes [2]: https://help.snapchat.com/hc/en-us/articles/7012376161556-What-can-I-scan-with-the-Snapchat-Camera [3]: https://techcrunch.com/2015/05/04/snapcode/ [4]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scan_(company) ## Deployments _No country reports mention this standard by name._ ## Regions / aggregations not mapped to a single country - Universal