Friendsgiving 4-Cut Photos With Friends Who Live Far Away

2026-10-27 · The Hanaduul team

Friendsgiving is supposed to be the whole crew around one table, but life scatters people across time zones and plane rides. With Hanaduul's Shoot together feature, you and a friend who's miles away can still end up in the same cozy photo strip, shot from two separate phones at the same time.

Start a Shoot Together Room

You don't need to be in the same kitchen, dorm, or even the same state to make this work. One person opens the room, the other hops in with a code, and you're both looking at the same background on your own screens within seconds.

Here's exactly how to set it up.

• On Home, tap [Shoot together] — this gives you a 6-digit room code
• Text or call your friend that code and have them tap [Join with room code] on their Home screen, then type it in
• If you two already follow each other or have shot together before, skip the code entirely — tap [Invite a friend], and all they have to do is tap [Join] on the pop-up that shows up on their phone
• Once you're both in, you'll see yourselves side by side on the same background, ready to shoot

Sync Your Poses Out Loud

Since you're each looking at your own phone, the easiest way to land a good shot is just talking it out like you're in the same room. Hop on a call, keep the app open, and call your poses together.

A few cues that work well: count down together ('one, two, three!') so you both smile or make a face at the same instant, call out small position fixes ('scoot left a little, I'm too far right'), and agree on a theme per cut — like cut one is normal smiles, cut two is silly faces, cut three is a thumbs-up pose, cut four is a surprised face. Doing a quick practice round before you actually shoot helps a ton too.

Write a Cozy Thanksgiving Background

Instead of picking from a generic background, you can describe your own Friendsgiving scene and have it made for you. On the shoot-prep screen, tap [My BGs], then [Make your own background] (you can also start this from the [Backgrounds] tab in your Album). Type what you want, wait about 15 to 30 seconds, and your scene is ready to shoot in front of.

The formula that tends to turn out best is place + time or weather + mood or color. Try something like 'warm kitchen with pumpkin pie on the table, golden afternoon light, cozy autumn tones' or 'dining room with string lights and a turkey centerpiece, early evening, warm orange glow.' Short prompts work too — even just 'thanksgiving table' will generate something.

One thing to keep in mind: you can't request real people, celebrities, or characters in the background, since it's just the scene — your actual photo goes on top of it. Also, because this uses in-app treats and there's a daily limit on how many backgrounds can be made, it's first come, first served, so don't wait until the last minute if you want a specific scene ready before your shoot.

Pick a Layout That Feels Like the Table

Once your shoot is done, head into editing to give the strip its final look. The [Layout] option changes how your four cuts are arranged — a clean 2x2 grid feels classic, but a scattered, polaroid-style layout feels more like photos tossed casually across a Friendsgiving table, which fits the vibe of a relaxed potluck hang.

From there, [Frame] adds a decorative border around the whole set, and [Border] lets you adjust the color and shape of the edges — warm, muted tones tend to match the cozy background nicely. Adjust each individual cut with [Filter] and [Beauty], or go further into [Details] if you want to fine-tune things even more.

Finish With Stickers, a Pen, or AI Style

If you want to add a little extra flair, [Sticker] has alphabet letters, cartoon shapes, chrome, party, doll, and jewel-style stickers you can drop in — there aren't Thanksgiving-specific stickers, but the letter and party sets work well for labeling the moment. [Pen] lets you write or doodle something by hand, like a quick 'Happy Friendsgiving' note in the corner.

After you tap [Done], you can also try ✨ [AI style], which changes the outfits and overall mood of the photo (this uses treats too). If you start it and don't want to wait around, you can close the app — your result will be there the next time you open it.

Keep in mind editing and decorating only work on photos you shot in Hanaduul itself; you can't import a photo from your camera roll or another app to decorate it here.

Before You Shoot: Quick Tips

A well-lit room makes a bigger difference than almost anything else. Face a window or a lamp rather than standing with your back to the light, and skip dim rooms if you can — brighter spots just photograph better.

Once you're both happy with the strip, it saves automatically to both of your phones in the [Together] tab of your Album, so neither of you has to remember to send it to the other.