Snapchat has announced a new feature/addition to its app called ‘Memories‘ which is set to be selectively introduced to users over the next month. The new addition allows users to save and share old and new Snaps and Stories in a private gallery in Snapchat and acts as a collection of the users’ favorite moments. Verge has described it as “a living, social camera roll in which photos and videos can be organized, edited, and shared long after they are taken.”
The company ensured to make it easy to use as it just requires the user to just swipe up from the camera to open, and type in keywords to easily locate the desired story with location and its object recognition technology; with the most recent content appearing at the top.
According to Snapchat “It’s super easy to find the Snap or Story you’re looking for in just a few seconds by typing keywords like “dog” or “Hawaii” — that way you can spend less time searching and more time enjoying your Memories.”
So what else is new?
Snapchat users will now be able to:
- create new Stories from Snaps taken or combine different stories into a longer story. This is great for celebrations where a story can be created from old pictures.
- send Snaps from Memories to friends, or post them to their Stories; with every snap that is more than a day’s old appearing with a frame informing everyone that it is from the past.
- move Snaps and Stories to ‘My Eyes Only‘ to prevent others from viewing a private snap when sharing memories, as it requires entering a code or PIN set by the user. This prevents embarrassing moments when friends scroll through the user’s camera roll and allows for control of what is seen.
Memories is backed up by Snapchat, along with photos and videos used to make a story or added to ‘My Eyes Only‘. Prior to this change, Snapchat was previously known for its transient content but with the Snaps and Stories now backed up to Snapchat, users can easily access, edit or share them later.
How to use
- Once you receive the update, swipe up from the camera screen to access Memories; the content will appear with the most recent at the top.
- Locate your desired tab: rectangular posts (Individual snaps); circular posts (stories) with live previews of snaps; snaps alone, stories alone or your phone’s camera roll.
- From your selected tab, tap and hold a snap to edit and modify the content with geofilters and timestamps even when you have left the original location; and also share to your current story or create a new story with multiple photos.
Significance in the Industry
The new features and updates to user experience on Snapchat is a step forward in the technology of pictures and video content broadcast on social media. The ‘My Eyes Only‘ helps which helps users control the privacy of their pictures, is also likely to be popular as users can use Snapchat as their camera and camera roll, in place of their phone’s original camera. Facebook and Instagram had previously announced significant changes with live video and increasing the maximum video length respectively but Snapchat has chosen to go in a different direction. The five year old company had previously encouraged users to be more outspoken about their daily experiences because of the lack of any permanent record, which provides a sense of security. However, most users also use it to broadcast major milestones and with the recent updates, they can now save these captured memories to their phone and use Snapchat as their default camera. The security issue has been taken care of with My Eyes Only and the secure PIN required to access, while the custom geofilters and timestamps allow easy search for the particular memory sought.
Considering the fact that photos are one of the most common means of expression on social media, it will be interesting to see the effect of these additions on the preference of users for Snapchat’s personal collection of photos to Facebook or Instagram’s more public one. Apple is also introducing a similar update of its own also called memories in iOS 10. One thing is certain; this update is a step forward for Snapchat and will most likely provide a better experience for its 110 million active users leaving a window of opportunity for growth wide open.
