How To Allow Camera Access On Snapchat

We will tell you How To Allow Camera Access on Snapchat Using iPhone and Android. Snapchat requires camera access to let you create stories, snaps, and other camera-related stuff.

It’s a simple thing but if you don’t allow Snapchat camera access when you open it for the first time, you would find it hard to find a camera option in the app to allow it camera access.

So, if you want to enable camera permission for Snapchat or if Snapchat is not detecting your camera, find some helpful methods and solutions in this guide.

How To Allow Snapchat Camera Access?

1. Use Snapchat Settings to Allow Camera Access on Snapchat
2. Giving Camera Access to Snapchat for Apple iPhone and iPad
3. Allow Camera Access Permission to Snapchat on Android Phones

1. Use Snapchat Settings to Allow Camera Access on Snapchat

Many users have reported that they can’t find any camera access option on Snapchat settings.

We checked it and found those reports to be true. However, if you want to give it a try, follow the below steps to check if you can find the camera option or not:

• Open Snapchat and tap your Bitmoji at the top left corner.

• On your Snapchat account, select the settings icon at the top right.

• Inside the user settings menu, tap ‘Manage’.

• The camera access option should be there.

If camera access not showing in settings for Snapchat, enable camera permission for Snapchat from the system settings of your Android or iPhone as shown in the following two methods.

2. Giving Camera Access to Snapchat for Apple iPhone and iPad

Want to know how to enable camera access on iPhone for Snapchat? Perform this from your iPhone or iPad settings.

• Open Settings on your iOS device.
• Swipe down to find ‘Snapchat’.
• You’ll see the options to allow different accesses to Snapchat such as storage, camera, location, and microphone. Make sure that the toggle for ‘Camera’ and ‘Microphone’ is ON. 
• Close Snapchat.
• Restart your phone by pressing and holding the volume button or the side button until the slider appears. Drag the slider to restart.
• Open Snapchat.

3. Allow Camera Access Permission to Snapchat on Android Phones

If you can’t allow Snapchat to access the camera on your Android phone, try enabling camera permission from the system settings of your phone.

Firstly, force close the Snapchat app:

• Go to Android settings
• Select ‘Apps & notifications’.
• Choose ‘See all apps’.
• Find ‘Snapchat’ from the list of apps and tap on it.
• Tap ‘Force Stop’.

Now, let’s allow Snapchat camera access on Android:

• Navigate to Android settings.
• Choose ‘Apps & notifications’.
• Select ‘See all apps’.
• Pick ‘Snapchat’ from the list.
• Choose ‘Permissions’.

• Tap ‘Camera’ and select ‘Allow’.
• Tap ‘Microphone’ and choose ‘Allow’. (On older versions of Android, you’ll see a list of devices that you can directly allow with a toggle switch.)

• Restart your phone by pressing and holding the power button until the options appear. Select Restart.

Working Methods to Fix the ‘Snapchat Was Unable to Open the Camera’ Error

1. Restart the Snapchat App/Force Close Snapchat
2. Clear Snapchat Cache to Fix the Camera Issue
3. Check Screen Time Limit on iOS Devices
4. Remove Camera Restriction from iPhone Settings
5. Update Snapchat for Fixing Oops Snapchat is a Camera App
6. Update Android/iOS
7. Reinstall Snapchat

1. Restart the Snapchat App/Force Close Snapchat

We’ll begin with a simple fix. Many times, an app is buggy and needs to restart for proper functioning. So, restart Snapchat and your device. But Android phones don’t close apps when you restart your phone. For this, we’ll force stop Snapchat and then restart the phone.

Force Close Snapchat and Restart on Android

• Open Android settings.
• Select ‘Apps & notifications’ and choose ‘See all apps’.
• Now, choose ‘Snapchat’ among the list of apps.
• Tap ‘Force Stop’.
• Restart your phone.

Force Close Snapchat and Restart on iPhone and iPad

• Swipe up from the bottom to the middle of the screen.
• Find ‘Snapchat’ among the apps.
• Swipe it up to close it.
• Restart your iPhone

2. Clear Snapchat Cache to Fix the Camera Issue

Whenever the cache of an app is corrupted, it starts acting weird. If you allow camera access to Snapchat and it is still showing the ‘Snapchat unable to open camera’ error message, clear its cache to delete its temporary files that could be corrupted.

Clear Cache on Android

• Navigate to Android settings by swiping down from the top and selecting the cogwheel icon at the top right.
• Select ‘Apps & notifications’ and tap ‘See all apps’.
• From the list of installed apps, choose ‘Snapchat’.
• Now, select ‘Storage & cache’.
• Tap ‘Clear Cache’.

• Restart your phone and then open Snapchat.

Offload Snapchat on iOS Devices

The closest to the ‘clear cache’ option in iOS is the app offload feature. Use this to fix the Snapchat unable to open camera problem.

• Go to Settings.
• Select ‘General’.
• Choose ‘iPhone Storage’.
• Pick ‘Snapchat’ from the list of apps.
• Tap ‘Offload App’. This will delete the app and its cache while keeping its data.
• Restart your phone.
• Now, navigate to App Store and install Snapchat.

3. Check Screen Time Limit on iOS Devices

With Screen Time on iPhone and iPad, you can set limits to your apps’ usage so you have time for other stuff. It gives you real-time data to know how much you spent on different apps and activities.

A possible reason for your Snapchat camera permissions iPhone issues could be the limit imposed on Snapchat or the camera by Screen Time. Check your App Limits:

• Open iPhone settings.
• Select ‘Screen Time’ from settings.
• Choose ‘App Limits’.
• Go to ‘Snapchat’, toggle off the ‘App Limit’, and tap ‘Delete Limit’.
• Perform the same for ‘Camera’ in ‘Screen Time’.
• Restart your phone.

4. Remove Camera Restrictions from iPhone Settings

For privacy reasons, iPhones keep some apps disabled so that they are enabled only when they are needed. Although this is not true for the Camera, you should still check if the camera is allowed on the ‘Content & Privacy Restrictions’ settings.

• Open Settings on your iOS device.
• Choose ‘Screen Time’.
• Select ‘Content & Privacy Restrictions’.
• From there, go to ‘Allowed Apps’.
• Find ‘Camera’ in allowed apps and make sure that it is ON. If not, tap the toggle to turn it on.

5. Update Snapchat for Fixing Oops Snapchat is a Camera App

Outdated apps are home to glitches and bugs. If you want to fix problems like the Snapchat microphone not working, Snapchat won’t open the camera, and the Snapchat is a camera app glitch, update your Snapchat app.

Update Snapchat on Your Android Phone

• Open Google Play Store
• Tap your profile picture at the top right corner.
• Select ‘Manage apps & device’.

• Under ‘Updates available’, tap ‘See details’.

• Find ‘Snapchat’ in the list. If you can see it, there is an update available for Snapchat. Tap ‘Update’.

Update the Snapchat App on iPhone and iPad

• Open App Store on your iOS device.
• Tap your display picture found at the top right corner.
• Swipe down to get to the updates section. Find Snapchat in the list. 
• If Snapchat is on the list, tap ‘Update’ next to it.

6. Update Android/iOS

It’s not usual, but a compatibility problem of Snapchat with the current version of your Android or iOS could be triggering the Snapchat allow camera access not working problem. Updating your operating system is a good habit so we’ll go ahead and perform this:

Update Your Android Phone

• Make sure you’re connected to Wi-Fi or a data connection that isn’t metered.
• Go to Settings.
• Swipe down to the end of the list and select ‘System’.
• Choose ‘System Update’.
• After the update, restart your phone.

Update iPad and iPhone

• Connect to Wi-Fi or an unmetered data connection.
• Go to ‘Settings’.
• Choose ‘General’.
• Tap ‘Software Update’.
• If you see two updates. One would be a regular update (for example; iOS 14.2 to iOS 14.3) and the other would be a version upgrade. (For example; from iOS 14 to iOS 15.)
• First, perform the regular update and check Snapchat.
• If Snapchat is still not detecting your camera, consider performing a version upgrade.

7. Reinstall Snapchat

If none of the above methods worked, the last option left is to completely remove Snapchat along with its data and then perform a fresh install.

Uninstall and Install Snapchat on Android

• Tap and hold the Snapchat icon and select ‘Uninstall’.

Or

• Tap and hold the Snapchat app and drag it to the uninstall option at the top of the screen.

For older versions:

• Open Android Settings
• Go to ‘Apps’
• Choose ‘Snapchat’.
• Tap ‘Uninstall’.

To install Snapchat again:

• Open Google Play Store.
• Search ‘Snapchat’ and install it.

Reinstall Snapchat on iPhone

• Navigate to settings.
• Go to ‘General’.
• Select ‘iPhone Storage’.
• Pick ‘Snapchat’.
• Tap ‘Delete App’.
• Now, open ‘App Store’.
• Search ‘Snapchat’ and install the app.

Conclusion

Most Snapchat users complain about the camera access not showing in settings. They can allow camera access to Snapchat from their Android or iPhone system settings with the methods shown above.

FAQS