Snapchat unveiled new updates at its Snap Partner Summit 2023 to help Snapchatters stay in touch and connected with their friends and family.
Evan Spiegel, chief executive officer, welcomed audiences in Los Angeles and those who joined virtually from around the world to the fifth annual Snap Partner Summit. He said: “750 million people use Snapchat every month, reaching the vast majority of 13-34-year-olds in more than 20 countries. We all love Snapchat because it gives us a better way to communicate with our friends and family.
“Snapchat makes things better because it’s different,” he said.
“That’s never been more important than today, because people are exhausted by the social media popularity contest. We’re fed up with having to look pretty or perfect in every post. Tired of competing for likes and comments. Exhausted by misinformation.
“We all just want to have fun with our friends and family,” Spiegel added.
Spiegel said the Snapchat team has been been hard at work innovating over the past year, introducing machine learning enabled creative tools, augmented reality technology like Ray Tracing, our subscription service Snapchat+, and our new My AI chatbot.
“We’re excited to share more today about what we’ve been working on, including new ways for partners to leverage our tools to build their businesses and create better experience for Snapchatters.
Calling
Every month, more than 100 million Snapchatters keep in touch on the platform through voice and video calling. Snapchat has introduced Calling Lenses that let you break free from the grid and appear together, in one frame, and soon, even play games and solve puzzles while you’re virtually face-to-face.
Stories
Snapchat introduced Stories back in 2013 for users to share their life with friends and now the platform is introducing two new ways Snapchatters to show what they are up to with ‘After Dark.’
Snapchatters up late studying or hanging out, can add to the After Dark Story. Come morning, the Story unfolds to debrief on the night. The second is Communities, a feature that lets you share your perspective with classmates. Throughout the month, Communities will be rolling to additional schools.
While Snaps and Chats are designed to delete by default, some Snaps are too good not to save. In fact, flashbacks made from Snapchat Memories are viewed over one billion times each day. Now, the platform is bringing these throwbacks right into a Snapchatter’s conversations with their friends, so they can relive the moments from their favourite Snaps you’ve saved together.
Snap Map
The platform is also launching Snap Map, adding a new location sharing option which makes it easier for friends and family to catch each other on the go. Snap Map will also feature new landmarks standing out in 3D, plus new tags on the places that were buzzing last night among friends and the broader Snapchat community.
Snapchat is also introducing a new location sharing mode – Live Location – that updates in the background so you can more seamlessly stay in touch with your closest friends. The new feature makes it easy for friends to see each other on the go.
Bitmoji
On Snap Map and beyond, 1.7 billion Snapchatters show up as their Bitmoji. This year, the platform has added shoppable fashion Bitmojis can look and dress just like the user. Soon, Snapchat will have even more styles to choose from, and it will all come to life in a new dimension with an updated avatar style that’s more expressive and personal.
More than 3 million Snapchatters are customising their Snapchat through the exclusive features available through Snapchat+, and soon, Verizon customers who want to upgrade can purchase a subscription through their +play platform.
