1. Force Close the Snapchat App

When an app like Snapchat starts misbehaving on your phone, the first thing you should do is force-close it and reopen it. If it’s just a temporary app glitch that’s causing Snapchat to lag on your Android or iPhone, restarting the app should help.  To force-close Snapchat on Android, long-press on its app icon and tap the info icon from the menu that appears. Then, tap the Force stop option at the bottom. If you’re using Snapchat on an iPhone, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to bring up the app switcher. Swipe up on the Snapchat card to close the app.

2. Switch to a Faster Internet Connection

Most Snapchat features, such as filters, lenses, Snap Map, and others, consume a significant amount of data. If your phone’s internet is slow or inconsistent, the Snapchat app may constantly lag or stutter. Hence, you need to ensure that your internet connection is both fast and reliable.  Additionally, if you’re using a VPN service, try disabling it momentarily and see if that improves the situation. 

3. Disable Snapchat’s Data Saver Feature

Snapchat’s built-in data saver feature comes in handy when you’re running low on mobile data. However, if you leave it on all the time, Snapchat may not run smoothly and take longer than usual to load new filters, lenses, snaps, and other app content. Hence, it’s best to disable the data saver feature when not required. 

  1. In the Snapchat app, tap the profile icon in the top left corner and then tap the gear icon in the top right corner. 
  2. Scroll down to tap on Data Saver and disable the feature from the following menu. 

4. Disable Battery Saver on Your Phone

Similar to Snapchat’s Data Saver feature, enabling battery saver on your Android or Low Power Mode on your iPhone can cause Snapchat to lag. Therefore, it’s a good idea to turn off your phone’s battery saver while using Snapchat. If you’re using an Android phone, open the Settings app and navigate to General management. Go to Battery and disable the Power saving feature from the following menu.  To turn off Low Power Mode on your iPhone, open the Settings app. Go to Battery and toggle off the switch next to Low Power Mode. 

5. Free Up Storage Space on Your Phone

If your phone is running out of storage space, you may notice Snapchat app lag while using the in-app camera or downloading new filters and lenses. To avoid this, you must free up some storage space on your phone by deleting unwanted apps or transferring some of your data to the cloud.

6. Clear Snapchat App Cache

If you’ve been using Snapchat for a while, the app may have accumulated a large amount of cache data on your phone. Although this data is supposed to help the app load faster, sometimes, it can cause problems. This usually happens when the Snapchat app cache becomes old or corrupted.  Fortunately, Snapchat lets you clear the app cache right from its settings menu. 

  1. In the Snapchat app, tap the profile icon in the top left corner and then tap the gear icon on the following screen.
  2. Scroll down to Account Actions and tap the Clear Cache option. Select Continue when prompted.

7. Update the Snapchat App

Snapchat releases app updates on a regular basis to add new features, fix bugs, and improve app performance. If you haven’t updated the Snapchat app in a while, now might be a good time to do so. Head over to Play Store or App Store and update the Snapchat app from there. After that, check if the app runs smoothly.

8. Fix Snapchat App Lag on Low/Mid-Range Devices

Are you using Snapchat on a low/mid-range or old phone? If so, you can expect some lag, especially when using Snapchat’s camera. Since loading Snapchat filters, lenses, location data, and more requires a fair amount of processing power, the Snapchat app may not run smoothly if your phone is underpowered. Perhaps the only thing you can do to improve Snapchat’s performance on an old phone is to free up some RAM before using the app. You can accomplish this by clearing recent apps and stopping background activities on your phone. 

No More Lag

Snapchat is no fun if the app constantly lags on your Android or iPhone. Hopefully, the solutions provided above were helpful, and Snapchat is now running smoothly on your phone. If not, you might want to switch to Snapchat Web on your PC or Mac for some time.  Like that song playing on Snapchat? Here’s how you can find out more about that song using Shazam right inside Snapchat.