Snapchat wants to be more than just photos.
In an effort to redesign the image-messaging app’s communication feature, SnapChat released a statement yesterday saying they’re rolling out the big guns and releasing a ‘Chat 2.0’.
Chat 2.0 is a major overhaul of it’s messaging feature and includes voice and video calling, audio and video notes, and more than 200 new stickers.
And now, if your friends aren’t logged into the app, you can still dial them. If they don’t answer, you can leave a recorded message, 10-second video note – similar to a GIF loop – or a flashy sticker.
In calls, users have the option to switch between audio and video anytime in the new ‘Watch’ feature.
The whole interface is altogether just more straightforward. To send a picture, press the picture icon and to make a call, press the phone icon. You get it.
And nothing about the app’s privacy has been altered or omitted.
They said in their statement:
What we love most about the new Chat is how easily you can transition between all these ways of communicating — just like you do in person.
When that’s possible, you aren’t texting, calling, or video chatting… you’re just talking. We’ve been working on this redesign for a while — we can’t wait to hear what you think!
While Chat 2.0 is a major overhaul for the app, other platforms have been ahead of the game for a while. Facebook created the Messenger app – with video calling, stickers and GIFS, and Whatsapp has long let users share pictures, video call, and now, share documents with others.
So in an effort to take advantage of the sort of messaging features that has helped Facebook and Whatsapp – which each have 1billion daily users – to grow, Snapchat is still behind with about 100million daily users.
But – maybe these new features will catch them up. It really is a great redesign.
