Snapchat: New Update and Features
Snapchat rolled out its biggest update yet Thursday, in a move that added text messaging and video chatting to its photo and video sharing app. The latest version of the app focuses on helping its users have conversations, rather than just one-off picture and video messages.
Until today, we felt that Snapchat was missing an important part of conversation: presence, the company wrote There’s nothing like knowing you have the full attention of your friend while you’re chatting. Following a delay in the app's rollout, the new Snapchat is now available to all iOS and Android users. Here's our first impression of how the new features stack up.
A new look
Before you even dive into the new chat and video features, it's obvious Snapchat has given much of the app a facelift.
Many of the app's icons and buttons have been redesigned and and the entire user interface has been given some much-needed polish. The menus, which you still navigate via swipes, are cleaner and less cluttered. The font has also been changed to a smaller, more subtle typeface.
One of the biggest changes to the app is the addition of text messaging. Previously, users could add short, 45-character notes to individual snaps, but that was the only chat-like aspect of Snapchat.
With the latest update, users can now have full-fledged conversations through the app. Simply swipe right over a contact's name from your inbox to pull up a conversation view.
The newest version of Snapchat also adds live video chatting to the app. This feature is triggered only when both users have the app open and are in the same conversation. When this occurs, the yellow capture button turns into a blue button the company is calling here.
Compared to this reboot, the old Snapchat, with its simple design and emphasis solely on disappearing photos, seems a bit immature. With the newest update, the company has managed to build a surprisingly powerful messaging platform that manages to feel true to the app's roots.
Snapchat rolled out its biggest update yet Thursday, in a move that added text messaging and video chatting to its photo and video sharing app. The latest version of the app focuses on helping its users have conversations, rather than just one-off picture and video messages.
Until today, we felt that Snapchat was missing an important part of conversation: presence, the company wrote There’s nothing like knowing you have the full attention of your friend while you’re chatting. Following a delay in the app's rollout, the new Snapchat is now available to all iOS and Android users. Here's our first impression of how the new features stack up.
A new look
Before you even dive into the new chat and video features, it's obvious Snapchat has given much of the app a facelift.
Many of the app's icons and buttons have been redesigned and and the entire user interface has been given some much-needed polish. The menus, which you still navigate via swipes, are cleaner and less cluttered. The font has also been changed to a smaller, more subtle typeface.
Text messaging
One of the biggest changes to the app is the addition of text messaging. Previously, users could add short, 45-character notes to individual snaps, but that was the only chat-like aspect of Snapchat.
With the latest update, users can now have full-fledged conversations through the app. Simply swipe right over a contact's name from your inbox to pull up a conversation view.
Video chatting
The newest version of Snapchat also adds live video chatting to the app. This feature is triggered only when both users have the app open and are in the same conversation. When this occurs, the yellow capture button turns into a blue button the company is calling here.
Compared to this reboot, the old Snapchat, with its simple design and emphasis solely on disappearing photos, seems a bit immature. With the newest update, the company has managed to build a surprisingly powerful messaging platform that manages to feel true to the app's roots.