Tag: snapchat

Snapchat Releases A Rebuilt Android App Promising Faster Performance

Snapchat, a popular multimedia messaging platform has faced its fair share of problems previously. The Android version of its application has always been complained about not being on par with the performance of its iOS counterpart. While the app was fairly stable and easy to work with on the latter, the former faced a lot of lags and continuous slowdowns which resulted in a sub-par experience. The company has freshly announced a new, rebuilt version of its Android application which promises a more refined, lag-free user experience.

Snapchat’s New Android App

To @Android. Love, Snapchat. #SnapForAndroid pic.twitter.com/MGOFQYa9Cj
— Snapchat (@Snapchat) April 8, 2019

The new Snapchat app for Android OS is a complete overhaul of the platform. However, it doesn’t bring any drastic visual changes to the table but instead relies on fixing the problems it faced on the inside. Notably, the Android and iOS versions of the messaging platform were identical visually and feature little to no differences in terms of controls and usability. The issues that users faced, as mentioned above were mainly performance related, which Snapchat claims will be fixed with the new update, and bring it on par with the iOS version. Interestingly, previous issues with fixing the Android app according to the company was the diverse range of devices that the platform boasted of, with each running on different internals and sporting differently sized displays. This made optimisation difficult for each device.

Also Read: Best Fitness Trackers Available In India Under Rs. 3,000

Another issue that the users faced previously was the disparity between feature distributions. While the iOS app received new features including filters and menu options right as they were announced, it took weeks and sometimes even months until the said feature made its way to the green side. The company has said that in future, the Android version may even get features faster than its iOS counterpart. Previously, due to the aforementioned issues, users of Snapchat on Android were reported to switch to rival platforms like Instagram, which caused a substantial dent in the company’s revenue last year.

April 9, 2019
Instagram Stories is Basically A Total Imitation of Snapchat

Instagram’s new feature Instagram Stories takes on what Snapchat does best. With the new stories Instagram is targeting it’s 300 Million Active users, which is double of what Snapchat currently holds.

Although Facebook, Instagram’s Main Company, is known to take “ideas” for new features, Snapchat will still hold on to a lot of exclusives.

Thanks to the acquisition of Face mapping app Looksery, Snapchat’s exclusive filters like the dog face filter are not coming to Instagram soon.

The format is pretty similar, images stay for 24 hours and then they are gone, you can add filters, stickers and even draw on your images. What’s more now while you capture on snapchat you can save your snapchats and re-post them on Instagram stories.

When watching your own story, swipe up to check out who’s seen each photo and video. You can even choose to feature a particular part of your story by posting it on your profile, which means if you decide to keep an image it goes permanent on your Instagram.

More control means you can also easily hide your entire story from anyone you don’t want to see it, even if they follow you.

Instagram seems to have found a good recipe for the 24 Hours storyline, however, this does not mean Snapchat is going anywhere soon. Instagram seems to have a completely different audience, which might change now. Also we might see a new Lawsuit headed Facebook/Instagram’s way.

August 3, 2016
Snapchat To Possibly Make Smart SnapGlasses

Founders of Snapchat are known for taking risks and implementing bold ideas. The company has constantly added new features to Snapchat to reinvent and help it grow from just another photo sharing app to now what it has become a fun supplement to our social media lives. The addition of features such as Discover, Stories, and usage of filters have helped itself set apart in the market. But now, the company is looking at things even more groundbreaking.

Reports suggest that the company is looking at making Google-Glass like smart eyewear which it could use to make a renewed push for the social media industry. Details have emerged of a number of hirings relating to augmented reality. The company has recently hired (formerly Qualcomm’s) Vuforia and eye-tracking tech maker Eyefluence amongst a dozen other high-profile hirings of designers and industry experts that point to Snapchat’s possible development of a pair of smart glasses.

Snapchat had earlier acquired Vergence Labs, which produced a pair of glasses equipped with an embedded camera, was acquired by Snapchat for $15 million in March of 2014. The acquisition accompanied a larger $50 million acquisition of Scan.me, a QR code-scanning/creating technology that would later manifest itself it the company’s Snaptags feature.

Though it’s all speculation for now, another report has also suggests that Snapchat’s hiring of individuals from the Augmented Reality field might just be less exciting as it only plans to develop an app for the upcoming VR and AR hardware that will soon hit the market.

March 12, 2016
Snapchat Makes Live Stories More Interactive With New Feature

In an attempt to make its Live Stories more interactive, Snapchat has introduced a new feature called Story Explorer. Users will now be able to see more of their favourite Live Stories.

https://youtu.be/Is5MVYepFBE

There will be an “Explore” tab at the bottom of some stories, and swiping it up would allow users to see more Snaps related to that particular story. The idea behind this new feature, as the company suggests, is to allow users to see different aspects of the same story and explore several perspectives.

“It’s the first time you’ll be able to experience that incredible game-winning dunk from thousands of perspectives throughout the stadium – or feel like you’re right there on the scene when breaking news unfolds.”

This new feature has been rolled out in New York and Los Angeles for now. Snapchat says in its official blog post that it will be made available in other places as well “very soon”. Looks like Snapchat might have provided social media with a reliable, authentic source of news after all, don’t you think?

November 24, 2015
Here’s How You Can Identify a Celebrity Profile on SnapChat

SnapChat is rolling out a new feature specially for its celebrity users as an added verification setting. So, if you want to verify whether the celebrity you think you are following is actually the real deal, you just have to look for a small emoji signifying their status. This emoji functions just like the blue tick mark on Facebook that identifies an authentic account from a fake one.

These emojis will be appearing under the header “Official Stories” and will also appear on the stories of users you are already following. This feature is expected to help “Snapchatters” discover interesting stories easily.

“If a Snapchatter has an Official Story, their name will appear under an Official Stories header when you search for them. Also, an emoji will appear next to their name so you know they’re the real deal!” – says SnapChat

As of now, the “Official Stories” feature is still being rolled out, so everyone may not have received it yet. However, it can be expected to become universally active soon.

November 14, 2015
Facebook’s New Message System Takes On SnapChat’s Self-Destruct Messages

Facebook is currently testing a new feature on their messaging app in France to introduce a self-destruct option within the Messenger app. This is not too difficult to operate, since one just has to click on a hourglass button at the top of the screen to activate it. The activation of this button will allow messages to be destroyed after one hour. In order to deactivate the feature, you’ll just have to click on the button again. In a public statement, Facebook said:

“We’re excited to announce the latest in an engaging line of optional product features geared towards making Messenger the best way to communicate with the people that matter most.

This is not the first time that Facebook has tried to introduce the idea of ephemeral messaging. It had previously introduced “Poke” in 2012 that was almost a copy of SnapChat, which had to be discontinued because it did not perform well. Eventually, they came out with another app called “Slingshot”, which was once again a take on SnapChat along with a couple of personalized features such as the fact that it required a photo in return before a message could be viewed.

Anyway, what’s done is done, let’s just hope this feature doesn’t tank too. And for all those wishing to erase a message already sent, or wishing you never sent them out and hoping it would get lost in the universe and never come up again – this could be your dream come true.

November 13, 2015
Here’s Why SnapChat’s Profile GIF Changes Interaction

Snapchat seems to be changing its display, format and along with it, the way its users interact with each other. Snapchat originally became very popular amongst the younger generation because of the fact that it erased memories in 10 seconds and kept their live statuses for just 24 hours. So, unlike Facebook, where someone can look through your past and bring up an embarrassing status or profile picture, Snapchat erases it all.

However, there is one thing on Snapchat that does not self-destruct, and that is the profile GIF. The profile GIF was added in July along with the tap-to-view feature. So, now, on your profile screen, if you tap on the QR code you will be able to shoot a series of 5 selfies which turns into an animated profile GIF.

Initially this seemed like just a cool customization which encouraged people to share it more and thereby strengthening Snapchat’s user base. However, there is another purpose for this customization, and that is, it somehow solves Snapchat’s identification problem. Basically, previously, when you added someone on Snapchat, you knew nothing about them except for their username. The anonymous character of this app made it very popular with the youngsters.

However, now, when you add someone, their profile GIF shows. So, you can immediately identify the person’s gender, and perhaps even their sense of humour. So, you won’t have to follow a person, then check out their Snap Story and then unfollow them, if you’re not interested.

This is very useful for Snapchatters who make their profiles public, because they can efficiently decide whom to follow back. The profile GIF definitely seems to be providing more transparency to one’s identity, thereby allowing you to be more aware of whom you add and follow.

Oh well, in this fast-paced world where social interactions and networking seem to play an important

role, it is necessary for social media to catch up too. And that’s exactly what Snapchat is doing.

September 30, 2015
Decoded : Snapchat’s Recent “Emoji” Update
Snapchat has launched a key update that allows you to recognize your closest friends based on a complex tier system of emojis. Previously, anyone could visit your Snapchat profile and check out who you sent the most number of snaps to. Hence, friendships would be questioned if a person did not appear in the ‘Best Friend’ list.

The app ditched the Best Friend feature in January, and now they are back with a new personal way to see who you’re closest to. The new Friend Emojis on your screen of incoming snaps will only be visible to you. Next to some of your Snapchat friends’ names, you will see an emoji that indicates the status of your photo-sharing friendship. Here is how the new Snapchat emoji looks like:
- Gold Heart: You are the #1 Best Friend. This is the person to whom you send the most number of snaps, and they snap back at you the most too.
- Grimace/Grit Teeth: A Mutual #1 Best Friend: You send the most snaps to the same person that they do.
- Smile: One of your Best Friends: One of the people to whom you exchange snaps the most after your Best Friend.
- Sunglasses: One of your best friends is one of their best friends: One person to whom you snap the most is also the person another friend snaps the most.
- Smirk: You are their Best Friend but they are not yours: You don’t send them many snaps, but they send you a lot.
- Fire: You two are on a Snapstreak: You have snapped this person every day, and they have snapped you back. Increases with number of consecutive days.
Snapchat has also bought in some technical changes that include a new low-light mode for your phone camera, simply by clicking on the Moon icon on the top of the screen. Also, a new bracket has been added- friends who have not snapped in a while will fall under the category of ‘Needs Love’.
April 7, 2015
With About $19 Billion Valuation, Snapchat To Become Third Most Valued Startup

Snapchat, the service that lets you send self-destructing text and picture messages is going places. In the latest round of funding, the company seems positive to raise its valuation to $16-19 billion. With this funding round, the company will become the third most valued startup after Xiaomi and Uber.

Last year, Snapchat raised $485 Million and was then valued at $10 Billion. This time around the company is targeting $500 million and is expected to be valued between $16-19 Billion. The company will over all raise $1 Billion after proposed funding.

Snapchat needs the funding as it plans to purchase the recording label Big Machine. This purchase is expected to cost Snapdeal a massive sum of $350 million. To raise its funds further, the company has said that it will be introducing ads on the platform.

Snapchat has been gaining popularity and is said to have acquired up to 200 Million monthly active users. For comparison, Instagram has over 300 Million subscribers while Whatsapp, the most popular of the messaging app has a user base of over 700 million.

February 18, 2015
A Quick Guide on How to Use Snapchat’s New Features

Snapchat revamped its whole interface with a massive new update. Well, many are heartbroken after the update removed the ‘Best Friend’ feature. However, there is much more to it than that. Snapchat has added a new ‘Discover’ tool which seems like the beginning of a whole new chapter in the way we consume content online.

We are listing all the changes and new features of the updated Snapchat.

1. Discover Tool

This is the most major change in the app, affecting both the users as well as companies directly. The Discover tool is more like an online magazine than a social media platform. It is intended to feed Snapchat’s young audience a daily flow of content from major media companies. Imagine Flipboard combined with Snapchat.

The discover tool features full screen photos and videos, awesome long form layouts, and gorgeous advertising. Discover seems like it will act as an always-on Snapchat “channel guide,” focused on delivering users advertising.

How to Use it: To open the tool, swipe left to open the story page, on the top right side of this page there is a small purple dot. Clicking on it will take you to the Discover homepage and users can select the outlet they wish to view with a simple click. From here you are taken to the available content and swiping left or right allows you to check out everything they have to offer. If you like what you see, it is as simple as swiping up to view extended content such as videos, text and photos. Once you have finished exploring, all you have to is swipe down to return to the homepage of Discover.

2. The Absence of the Best Friends feature

This one caused teens everywhere to flip out of disappointment. The update quietly removed everyone’s Best Friends list. The Best Friends feature was simply a list of people who a user interacted with the most frequently on the app. It’s similar to Myspace’s Top 8 friends, except users can’t control who shows up on their list. Best Friends lists were previously public, so that anyone in a user’s Snapchat contact list could see who they were sending the most snaps to. With this new upgrade, this list became private.

Another new addition, instead of the long list of friends, there are only the recent updates visible, reminiscent of Blackberry’s BBM messenger updates.

3. QR Snaptags

One more BlackBerry-like feature is the new ‘Snaptags’. This creates a unique QR code for every Snapchat user. When someone points their Snapchat camera at a Snaptag, the app adds the corresponding person as a friend. All you have to do is swipe down on the landing screen and it will show your QR Snaptag. This not only easy but also a great way to fetch more followers. There is a whole community of creators who use Snapchat Stories to entertain millions of fans. They can easily toss their Snaptag up on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook to score more followers.

January 30, 2015
Snapchat Will Now Let You Send Money That Won’t Self-Destruct

Snapchat has recently unveiled a new feature that will let users send money to other users through the self-destructive messaging app. To send money to friends, users need to connect their debit cards to their Snapchat accounts through a partnership with Square Cash.

The service will only be available to Snapchat users in the United States who are above 18. None of the user’s personal financial information will be stored on Snapchat’s server. However, the company’s privacy is almost the first concern. The question arises – Would you trust Snapchat for your financial details? We won’t.

In May, Snapchat settled with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over allegations that it misled users over data collection and failed to inform them that their messages could be saved. The company agreed to be monitored by the FTC for 20 years. And in January, at least 4.6m user accounts were compromised by hackers, who posted usernames and phone numbers on the web.

To send a payment, all what a Snapchat user needs to do is type in the amount they’d like to send in a private message. The app then recognises the dollar amount – say $10 – and eventually, a green payment button appears. The tapping of this button sends the amount to the other user. The payment system is similar to other mobile payment services, such as Venmo and PayPal. It is a part of Snapchat’s broader push to expand beyond its core messaging business, by both adding advertising and branching out into live events.

The company announced last month that users will start receiving ads from brands under the ‘Recent Updates’ section of the app. This is the same portion of the Snapchat inbox where you find ‘Stories’, a product that threads together multiple snaps (both video or photo) into one, long snap.

However, the problem is that the app doesn’t know much about its users beyond their made-up username, IP location, volunteered age, phone number, and who they watch on Snapchat Stories. Although it does get some name info from contact books, but without the targeting prowess of apps like Facebook and Twitter, it may be forced to stick with ads for things with broad appeal, like films and top 40 music.

November 18, 2014
200,000 Snapchat Pictures Leaked, Company Blames Third-Party Apps

The whole point of photo sharing app Snapchat is that photos, once sent, are supposed to disappear. However, thousands of these pictures have reappeared when hackers posted a database of purported stolen Snapchat photos and videos on the 4Chan message board. 4Chan, earlier, housed the first leaked nude photos of actress Jennifer Lawrence and other celebrities.

As per reports, Snapchat has been breached of as many as 200,000 photos and videos, many of them extremely personal images. However, the company on Friday released a statement on Twitter saying, “Snapchatters were victimized by their use of third-party apps to send and receive Snaps, a practice that we expressly prohibit in our ToU. We can confirm that Snapchat’s servers were never breached and were not the source of these leaks.”

Snapchatters were victimized by their use of third-party apps to send and receive Snaps, a practice that we expressly prohibit in our ToU.

— Snapchat (@Snapchat) October 10, 2014

Although Snapchat has been hacked before, this time it isn’t the company’s fault. Third party apps, such as SnapSave or SnapKeep, seem to be the source of the hacking. These apps let recipients of Snapchat messages save them permanently. According to the reports, 4chan users have downloaded 13 GB worth of photos and videos and are creating a database to search the stolen images.

Even Snapchat users who did not use third-party apps could be victims, said Patrick Wardle, director of research at crowd-source security startup Synack. “This is an interesting scenario because the sender of an image doesn’t know if the recipient is using a third party service like SnapSaved.com or other third party applications. Therefore, everyone who sends a message using SnapChat’s service could be at risk,” Wardle said.

In May, Snapchat settled charges with US regulators accusing it of deceiving customers by promising that photos on its service disappeared forever. According to the Federal Trade Commission, photos sent on Snapchat could be saved using several methods.

October 11, 2014
The 5 Major Differences Between Slingshot and Snapchat

We’ve known that Facebook has been working on Slingshot for the last six months. The app has just went live on Google Play. Along with that, they officially announced it on their Facebook page and also released a new promo video announcing availability of Slingshot for both Android and iOS.

If there were any doubt that Facebook will be taking on Snapchat, the public launch and availability of its new Slingshot app has now confirmed it.

The free app lets you take a quick photo or video, mark it up with colorful drawings, caption it with big white text, and then send it off to your chosen contacts. But when you receive your first message, you realize that this app is something completely different. Rather than just copying Snapchat feature by feature, Facebook is putting in a rather intriguing twist to the messaging trend by focusing on a more social aspect. So, we decided to list 5 things that make Slingshot different from Snapchat.

1. The Social Factor

When an app comes out of the Facebook oven, there is not even a slight chance that there can be anything lacking in its social media element. Slingshot does not solely rely on your Facebook friends list for contacts. Accounts are tied to your phone number, which you must verify before you can start using the app. Once you have verified your account, you can search for friends from your contacts list, Facebook or look up individuals by user name.

2. No Approval Needed

Slingshot allows you to search for people you know and there isn’t one central contacts menu where you can easily view all your connections. And, unlike Snapchat, there is no approval process for adding connections. Anyone can send messages to anyone whose information they might have. Facebook says an approval process is necessary because users can simply choose to ignore the message they don’t want to see. You can also choose to ignore all messages from individual users by hiding them.

3. No One-Sided Sharing

One noteworthy aspect of the app is that it won’t allow you to see a new picture messages unless you send one of your own back. Facebook says the reason behind this is to take the pressure off users to constantly read and send messages. With so many mobile apps competing for people’s attention, Slingshot’s ability to self-perpetuate engagement could be the key to traction. One friend doesn’t have to do all the work to entertain others, who consume without creating, breaking the chain. With Slingshot, the conversation never dies because the last message is always waiting to be unlocked.

4. Better Camera quality

Launching Slingshot immediately takes you to the app’s camera. The selfie button toggles between the device’s front and rear-facing cameras, and holding down the shutter button allows you to record a video. Slingshot’s overall camera quality is better than Snapchat’s, even when you zoom in. As with Snapchat, you can add drawings and text to the photos and videos you send in Slingshot but both features feel far more elegant and give you much more control in the latter.

5. Customized Text

Text is limited to 140 characters, but can be repositioned on the image. Unlike Snapchat’s text, which always remains the same size and at the same place, Slingshot’s text will get bigger when you drag it down from the top of the screen. The drawing tool is also far more advanced than Snapchat’s — you can adjust both the color and the size of the brush. Dragging along the color bar selects a color, dragging left or right changes the brush size, moving the tool right makes the brush smaller and moving it left makes it larger.

June 19, 2014
Look Out, Snapchat : Facebook Plans its Own Snap Service

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief, has been supervising a top-secret project after failing to woe Snapchat’s creators Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy to sell. Facebook knew Snapchat had an edge and wanted to pick up the startup last year for a reported $3 billion. But that number didn’t affect Snapchat as it continued adding features to the app that made people want it more.

Last month, it updated the app (with wild success) to include video chatting and text-based messaging as well, thereby fully deploying its messaging store without losing its core feature – all communication from Snapchat still get deleted after a short period.

Facebook is now working on its own private sharing app called “SlingShot”, which would primarily be a video-based service. But can it dethrone Snapchat, which already has a big user base, longer market exposure and exciting features?

The one area where Facebook can truly capitalize is by going after Snapchat’s weaknesses. One of them is that the app had to pay a large settlement in a lawsuit which alleged messages don’t get destroyed permanently or immediately. Snapchat agreed to the charges and decided to settle with the FTC. Currently it’s credibility is lost and there’s definitely a bit of stink attached to the app at the moment. Facebook has this moment’s window to make their play, by releasing a completely secure, self-destructing chat service.

Facebook’s supposed SlingShot app will upset Snapchat’s growth course, but to what degree is presently unknown. Facebook could do maximum damage by bundling it with its Messenger, rather than releasing it as a standalone app. This added feature would go a long way towards ensuring more engaged users.

Slingshot takes a different approach. It is said to resemble TapTalk, a new video-messaging app from Berlin-based Wit Dot Media released last month, in which users tap or hold a contact’s profile picture to instantly send a photo or short video, which can be viewed only once by the recipient.

Private messaging is a big portion of all smartphone usage. One thing is certain: Facebook will have a enormous user base to tap into with SlingShot and the numbers dwarfs Snapchat’s active user base. So if SlingShot is any good at all, it may be worrying days for Snapchat.

May 19, 2014
Snapchat Update: Video Chat and Texting Features Added

Snapchat claims that over 700 million pictures are shared everyday on their service, which would make it the most-used photo-sharing app — compared to Facebook, WhatsApp, and others. And now they have come up with new feature by which you can text and video chat as well. Staying true to their philosophy the text messages disappear as soon as the conversation is over. They hope to make video chats feel unforeseen, attempting to reproduce momentary meets on a street corner. Unlike Skype calls, which always prove to be tedious to plan out with friends.

23-year-old CEO, Evan Spiegel in an interview with ‘The Verge’ said that the reason none of his friends video call each other on a daily basis is because “calling” was born of an era where software needed to imitate real-world tools. “What does a phone look like without a ringer?” he asks. He sums up his idea more neatly. “For Snapchat, the closer we can get to ‘I want to talk to you’ — that emotion of wanting to see you and then seeing you — the better and better our product and our view of the world will be.” To Spiegel, the future of communication isn’t about rethinking or upgrading phone calls as Skype, FaceTime, and Hangouts have done. It’s about imagining a future that leaves the phone metaphor behind entirely.

Snapchat stripped out conventional texting-app features like read receipts, typing indicators, online statuses, and photo attachments. “Typing and read receipts make a lot of sense for messaging,” says Spiegel. “You write a letter, you put it in an envelope, you send it to a friend, and you want to know when they get it.” According to Spiegel, a modern chat app should feel like you’re really in the same room as the person you’re talking to.

It started with sharing short-lived pictures, but Spiegel’s vision is faraway from just photos. You can call it anything — social network, utility, future-phone — Snapchat has managed to stick around, though it’s addictive features are still not so easy to classify. He’s trying to produce digital spaces with the identical closeness and immediateness we get in actual world conversations. Smartphones have altered the way we all commune with one another. But if Spiegel can achieve his vision, Snapchat could be the app that changes it back.

May 3, 2014