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Snapchat is making its chat features snappier.
The maker of the popular app said on Tuesday it updated its disappearing photo and video service to give people more ways to talk and respond to each other within the same conversation. Among the choices: voice, video and text.
Oh yeah, and stickers. Snapchat introduced more than a hundred stickers, like emoji but more detailed, which rivals like Facebook Messenger already have. These include a sleeping puppy, dancing mice and a walrus drinking coffee.
The new features are part of the chat app war for your eyes. In addition to Snapchat, Facebook and Google beefed up their messaging services to attract more users. Instagram, owned by Facebook, also on Tuesday said it’s raising the time cap on user videos to 60 seconds, a big jump from the old 15-second limit. Facebook is also reportedly experimenting with its Messenger app to make it everything from an artificially intelligent personal assistant to a mobile payments hub.
The new Snapchat features include looping 10-second videos or audio notes. If a friend isn’t present when you want to chat, the note will be there waiting next time they check the app. You can also make an old-fashioned audio call — what used to be known as a phone call — through the app. You can respond with video and text, as well as voice.
Snapchat also made it easier for people to cycle through Snapchat Stories, photo and video clips available for just 24 hours. After one story is finished, the next one in your feed will start. If you want to skip a Story, swipe left to get to the next one.
That’s it in a nutshell. Or a raccoon vomiting a sparkly rainbow if you use the stickers.
