Snapchat's Sky Filters Will Help You Paint With All The Colors Of The Wind... For Real

Somebody has a birthday on Sept. 26! Snapchat is turning six, and for its big day, you're getting a present. Snapchat just announced Sky Filters, a new feature that will help you make your snaps even more amazing. Sky Filters allow you to paint the sky above your head, and these filters are next level. Basically, when a sky is recognized in a photo snap, new filters will appear automatically along with the normal filters, and they'll allow you to paint the sky with different colors and weather patterns. You can choose from a starry night, stormy clouds, a beautiful sunset, rainbows, and more. "Sky Filters will rotate daily, and are rolling out to Snapchatters on iOS and Android."

Since it took the social media scene by storm in 2011, Snapchat has been continually releasing innovative new updates to satisfy the insatiable appetite of Snapchatters. The app released 25 updates this year alone, including Paintbrush, Custom Stickers, Shazam, Search, World Lenses, Group and Geo stories, 3D Bitmoji, and more.

Sky Filters are the latest addition to Snapchat's augmented reality features. Instead of transforming your face, Sky Filters let you revolutionize the world around you using AR, which — let's face it — is better than reality these days. With the tap of your finger you can alter the sky in your snaps to transform it from day to night, clouds to rainbows, and more.

Snapchat also rolled out its 3D Bitmoji feature last week, which lets you superimpose your Bitmoji self onto a real-world backdrop. TNW reported that, in addition to Sky Filters, Snapchat's birthday celebration also includes new 3D Bitmoji lenses. These two updates pretty much guarantee that you're not going to get any work done this week because you're going to be too busy going down Snapchat's AR rabbit hole. Not that there wasn't already enough to keep you busy on Snapchat, but in this case, more is definitely better.

"This past year, Snapchatters started storytelling in new ways and transforming the world into art with even more creative tools such as Backdrop, Magic Eraser, Magic Tint and Paintbrush," Snapchat tells Bustle. "We’re discovering new places, cultures, and events — and sometimes turning our sofas into passports to the world — with Snap Map, Search, and the best media companies in the world publishing informative and entertaining Stories on Discover. Communication is also becoming more fun and more personal with Bitmojis popping up in new places across the app, and tools like custom Group Stories."

In keeping with the desert theme of Snapchat's Sky Filter examples, I took my 3D Bitmoji to California's Yucca Valley last week, and I made all my U2 Joshua Dreams come true. My 3D Bitmoji played air guitar in front of my desert Airbnb, while I worked, so I could live vicariously through my cartoon self. With Sky Filters, I could further transform my desert rock-star experience into a starry or sky, cloudy backdrop, or beautiful rainbow.

If the Snapchat updates have been coming faster than you can keep up, Snapchat provided Bustle with a recap. If you missed some of the summer features because you were busy enjoying summer IRL, check out Backdrops and Paperclips, which were both released in July:

Backdrops make it easy for you to place colorful and artful patterns behind any object in your photo Snaps. After taking a Snap, simply tap the Scissors in the Vertical Toolkit to find the new Backdrop icon. Select a unique Backdrop design, then trace the objects or area in the Snap you want to bring in front of the pattern. You have the option to chose from about eight Backdrops, which rotate daily.

Paperclip is an easy way for you to add web links to your Snaps. Simply tap the paperclip icon in the Vertical Toolkit to attach a link to your Snaps before sharing with a friend or posting to your Story. Whether it’s a link to a food blog, or tickets to see your favorite artist, friends who view your Snap can easily swipe up to navigate to the link right inside of Snapchat.

That should be enough to keep you busy for awhile, just remember to try to get some actual work done in between your Snapchat deep dives.