Snapchat has always mixed photos and videos from your friends with content from publishers and creators. However, now it has redesigned the app to separate media from friends and content from publishers. Now users will see photos, videos from friends on the left side, while the stories from publishers, creators and community will open on the right. As always, the home screen will be the camera in the center. The Friends page on the left side is more personalized, dynamic and displays Snaps and Stories from your best friend. Now you'll see private messages from friends and Stories from them in a single Friends tab. The Snaps and texts from friends will be placed at the top, followed by stories. The Best Friends algorithm determines which friends feed need to appear on the top, based on with which friends you communicate regularly. The new Discover page to the right of the camera includes Stories from publishers, creators, and the community. Your subscriptions will be at the top, followed by other Stories you might be interested in watching. Snapchat says it will personalize Discover tab as well Stories on Discover over time. It also mentioned that curators review and approve everything that get promoted on the Discover page. Snapchat's redesign comes soon after, Snap posted disappointing Q3 results. The user growth during Q3 was below Wall Street expectation, so by making Snapchat more personal, Snap will be looking to get more users to use their app. Source
Google is reportedly developing a Snapchat-style stories project, that will allow publishers to create visual-oriented media content. According to Wall Street Journal Google will call this project Stamp, where 'st' stands for 'stories' and will announce it sometime next week. Stamp is said to be similar to Snapchats's Discover feature, and with it Google's aim is to deliver visual-oriented news and information at a faster speed. For those unaware, Snapchat's Discover feature mixes, mobile first design with several swipe-able slides that includes a blend of photos, videos-clips and texts. However, unlike Snapchat, wherein the stories is limited to the app itself, Google's Stamp will have a wider reach. The report says that Google will integrate Stamp's service into its search engine, as well as it will appear on the publishers website. Google is said to build the Stamp feature around its AMP (accelerated mobile page) webpage service, which is already integrated in with a ton of publishers website , that will ensure faster loading time than the regular web pages. The search-giant is also talking with several publishers such as Vox Media, CNN, Mic, The Washington Post and Time to bring contents to Stamp. Apart from Snapchat, Apple already has its own news app, while Facebook has its instant article platform. The development of Stamp, will help Google to step up in the digital media segment, and up the ante in the race among tech giants to dominate news dissemination on smartphone. Source | Via
Snapchat is adding a new location-sharing feature to its platform called Snap Maps, that will show where your friends are Snapchatting from. The feature also allows users to share their locations with each other as well. To get started, you just have to pinch your home screen to zoom in to bring up Snap Map view. If you're friends are sharing their locations with you, their Actionmoji will appear on the Map. Actionmojis only update when you open Snapchat. And when you tap on your friends Actionemoji, you'll be taken to their latest story. There's also heat zones in the Snap Map to show where lots of activity is happening. You can even chosse not to share your location with friends or a select friend by turning on Ghost Mode, and Snapchat will stop collecting location data. The new Snap Map feature is now available on iOS devices, and will roll out to Android soon.
In September 2016, Snapchat introduced it's first wearable, the $130 Spectacles, and the company sold the wearable in limited number of quantities in the U.S via vending machines, so it was pretty hard to own one. Starting today, Snapchat will sell the Spectacles on its official website for the same price tag of $130 (Rs. 8,700). However, the availability is still limited to the U.S. The Spectacles will be available in Coral, Black and Teal hues, and a person can order a maximum of six spectacle. Shipping will take two to four weeks. Snapchat is also selling Charging cases and charging cords separate at $49.99 and $9.99 respectively. For those uninitiated, Spectacles is basically a pair of sunglasses with built-in camera with 115-degree lens for recording 10 seconds video. To record the video you've to tap on the button present near the hinge, and the surrounding lights will light up to signal the recording has begun. The Spectacles connects to Snapchat app on your smartphone through Bluetooth or WiFi connectivity, and the recorded contents are automatically saved to Memories section of the app in a circular video format.
Snapchat, has made two major announcements, first they are rebranding to Snap Inc, and second they want to change the way you snap a movement and upload to their app. For this Snap Inc. has announced it's first wearable device called Spectacles. Spectacles is basically a pair of sunglasses featuring built-in camera with 115-degree lens that can record 10-second videos. To record the video you've to tap on the button present near the hinge, and the surrounding lights will light up to signal the recording has begun. It connects to Snapchat on your device via WiFi or Bluetooth, and the recorded contents are automatically saved to Memories sections of the app in a new circular video format. The wearable is capable of recording a day's worth of video on a single charge and comes in Coral, Teal and Black colors. The Spectacles is priced at $129.99 and will be available in the U.S in limited number of quantities.
Snapchat has updated its app with a new feature that will allow users to save and share their photos and videos. The new feature called Memories, is an album within the app, where users can save snaps and video, which they can later upload to their 'Story'. You can create new Stories from Snaps you've taken a while ago or combine different stories as well. Memories can be accessed by swiping up from the main camera screen. You call also search for snaps in the Memories album, chronologically with keywords like name of a place, food, dog, etc. This is a smart search feature that is able to recognize objects in the photos. Memories also come with a password protected section called "My Eyes Only" that lets to save private photos. This feature lets you create new stories from old snaps (contents disappears after 24 hours). The snap will appear with a frame around it to mark that it was taken in the past. Until now you had to immediately upload photos or videos as they are recorded, and now it can be accessed anytime. With 'Memories',
Snapchat is moving further away from its roots as an ephemeral nature to the app. Memories will be rolling out to Android and iOS users starting next month. Users will receive a message from Snapchat, one the feature is ready for use.
Snapchat has released a major update to its app which has transomed it from a simple photo-sharing messaging app into a full-fledged messaging app with a variety of new multimedia features including audio and video chat.
The Chat 2.0 version adds VoIP and video calling, and with a single button when your frined is online you can start chatting with them in real time. If the person you are trying to contact is busy, you can leave a voice message or a quick 10 second thumbnail sized GIF like video not. The update also adds more than 200 chat stickers, and the app can automatically select relevant stickers based on the text you have typed.
With the latest update, you can also send multiple photos at a time in a chat, which can be edited or enhanced with the app's text drawing and filter tools before sending. You will also be able to send camera roll photos during video and audio calls, and toggle between video and audio calls on the fly.
In addition to the new chatting feature, Chat 2.0 also gets Auto-Advance stories, which begins the next story automatically when you finish watch it, to skip you will have to swipe, pull down to exit.
The Chat 2.0 update for Snapchat now available for Android and iOS devices.
