India tops Snapchat's AR lens charts; developer community up 50% in 2 years: Bobby Murphy

India has emerged as the leading source of augmented reality (AR) lenses on Snapchat, with the country’s AR developer community growing by over 50% in the past two years, Snap Inc. co-founder Bobby Murphy said on February 12.

Murphy, who also serves as the company's Chief Technology Officer, praised the country’s developers, noting that AR has become deeply embedded in daily life.

"Indian developers are at the forefront of innovation, bringing engaging and creative experiences to life...India is an extraordinary country where AR has become a part of daily life. It’s a country where the creative energy is electric, and AR is not just a tool for entertainment but a medium for cultural expression" said Murphy.

Snap said that India is the second-largest market for its AR developer community, though it did not disclose specific figures. Globally, over 375,000 creators have built more than 4 million AR lenses for Snapchat, which users have interacted with over 4.5 trillion times in the past year, the company said. Snapchat’s AR lenses appear inside the app, offering users interactive and immersive experiences.

"India is home to a thriving community of creators and developers who are shaping the future of AR...We believe long-term success in AR relies on a strong developer ecosystem, and we remain deeply committed to fostering this vibrant community" said Pulkit Trivedi, MD, India, Snap Inc.

The social media firm also claims that Snapchat users in India engage with AR Lenses over 80 billion times a month, up from 50 billion a month last year.

These announcements were made at Snap's second annual India AR Day in Mumbai, where the company brought together the country's top AR creators, developers, brands, and partners to showcase the technology's potential across various fields, from entertainment to utility.

Spectacles AR glasses

Snap also demonstrated its fifth-generation see-through AR glasses, Spectacles, that were first unveiled in the United States in September 2024. These AR glasses are powered by Snap OS, a brand-new operating system purpose-built by the social media platform to power its future AR hardware.

The operating system features a natural interface that uses the person's hands and voice, placing the main menu directly in the palm of their hand, with no controllers needed. It is currently available only to developers through the Spectacles Developer Program in Lens Studio, the company's AR authoring software.

Also read: Snapchat parent unveils a new operating system for Spectacles AR glasses

Srivatsan Jayashankar, Head of AR Developer Relations, Snap Inc. told Moneycontrol that a few Indian developers are already building experiences for the platform. He also mentioned that most developers in India using Lens Studio will be able to apply and build for Spectacles due to its integrated nature.

Snap is also currently waiving off developer fees on the Snap OS platform, likely to attract them to the new platform "Unlike many other platforms, which makes it a bit more financially unviable when you have heavy developer tax, we do not charge anything to developers to host their experiences on the platform" he said.

Snap has also partnered with OpenAI to provide developers access to multimodal large language models, enabling them to easily build lenses that recognise objects around them and provide more context. Jayashankar said they use GenAI extensively to help novice developers or non-developers become Lens creators by simply providing a prompt to publish.

The company also conducts workshops, events, and even Lensathons, which are hackathons where developers work together with Snap experts to build on the Spectacles or build lenses and enable more experiences on the platform.

Also read: Snapchat parent looks to attract India Gen Z users with localised experiences: India MD Pulkit Trivedi

Expanding AR developer base in India

Jayashankar said that Snap is also investing significant efforts in a range of initiatives to reach a larger segment of AR developers, particularly in Tier 2 and 3 cities. The company is conducting Lens Studio training meet-ups in cities like Surat, Coimbatore, Rajkot, Trichy, Trivandrum and Gwalior. Snap claims it has hosted over 120 such meetups in 2024, reaching over 6,000 AR Developers.

Snap is also building up its developer network, Snap Lens Network, where the firm selects a few Snap developers to mentor them and work closely with them on several activities, he said.

Additionally, Snap is collaborating with educational institutions to attract young talent. The social media company has partnered with institutions such as K.J. Somaiya (Mumbai), Pearl Academy (Bangalore, Mumbai, and Delhi), and Loyola College (Chennai) conduct workshops that enable students to learn lens development and publish lenses.

Another key area of focus is helping more developers and partners connect with brands, enabling them to monetise their work and create a large business around AR effects, Jayashankar said.

During the event, Persica Picardo, co-founder of XRFX Studio - a firm specialising in custom AR effects for brands on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok - claimed that they recently hit a revenue milestone of $100,000 in less than two years. The company has built AR effects for brands such as Coca-Cola, Google, Nykaa, Tira, Amazon Prime Video, Ajio, Max, Swiggy, and Zepto among others, she said.

Snap stated that it has also worked with several brands in India such as Myntra, Doritos - Pepsi Co., Disney+ Hotstar, Spotify, and Surf Excel to create monetisation opportunities for creators in the country.