Snap CEO Evan Spiegel today hosted the company’s first developer conference where it launched cool new features for creators, including augmented reality camera improvements, games, an easier way to find the right augment reality filter at the right time and more.
At the same time, Snap unveiled a fresh batch of original programming along with exciting new capabilities for developers like App Stories, Creative Kit, Bitmoji Kit, Ad Kit and more.
A quick overview of the key takeaways follows below.
Games
The new Snap Games service is launching today with six titles:
- Bitmoji Party: Play as yourself in a series of quick, wacky mini-games.
- Tiny Royale: You and friends shoot to the top in Zynga’s bite-sized Battle Royale action.
- Snake Squad: You and your squad work together to be the last ones standing.
- C.A.T.S. Drift Race: ZeptoLab’s title has you drifting around the track.
- Zombie Rescue Squad: Your squad will rescue survivors in a zombie-infested city.
- Alphabear Hustle: Collaborate to form words – fast! – to build your village.
Watch the launch trailer for Snap Games embedded bellow.
To quickly start a game, tap the Chat bar. You can play a title with your friends without installing anything, as well as see which friends you’re playing with to send them a chat or talk live with voice chat.
“Become your Bitmoji. Challenge your friends. Play games together, live. And unlock some new dance moves,” reads the description. And here’s what Bitmoji Party looks like.
To learn more about Snap Games, visit the official website.
New Snap originals
Snap’s original video programming is getting fresh new content spanning documentaries, comedies and teen dramas. Examples include a teen soap that takes place inside the phones of a few high school freshman BFFs, docuseries that explores racially charged social issues, BuzzFeed’s upcoming daily afternoon show and more.
Exclusive to Snapchat, these shows are unavailable elsewhere.
Be sure to read the press release for the full show list. You can also check out the new and returning shows at snaporiginals.com.
For more information, check out the press release.
Lenses improvements
People can now get to Snapchat’s effects filters, called lenses, faster by pressing and holding on Snapchat’s camera screen. Doing so will prompt the app to analyze a scene in the viewfinder to apply the right lens.
As an example, you could scan a math problem to get the answer or a product to see results on Amazon. “Scan your dog to give her goofy glasses, or a song to see who sings it,” the company writes. “Scan the sky to see whales swim over the horizon, or scan your hand to watch butterflies emerge as you open your palm.”
If you’re a lens developer, Snap has updated the Lens Studio app with all-new templates and ways to create these filters. The new Landmarkers template, for instance, allows creators to build lenses that can transform the world’s most iconic landmarks, in real-time, while other new templates focus on hand and body-tracking, etc.
All told, the Snapchat comment has created 400,000+ lenses and users have played with those over 15 billion times. To learn more about what’s new in lenses, read the press release.
App Stories
App Stories sounds cool, but what is it? According to the company, this is a new way for users to share content right from the Snapchat camera to a Story inside another app.
The company provided these examples:
- Share a Snap of your hidden talent to a Story on your Tinder profile.
- Share a Snap of your day to a Story on Houseparty.
- Share a Snap of your latest trip on AdventureAide to inspire others to join you next time.
Naturally, no Facebook or Instagram Stories support.
Creative Kit
This new API will soon permit Snapchatters to share custom stickers from their favorite services right on a Snap:
- Netflix: Share the show you’re watching.
- Breaker or Anchor: Share the podcast you’re listening to.
- GoFundMe: Share a meaningful cause.
- VSCO: Share a photo with your friends on Snapchat.
- Anghami (in the Middle East) and JioSavvn (in India): Share a song you love.
“With many of these integrations, friends can simply swipe up to watch, listen or donate on their own,” reads Snap’s press release for developers.
Ad Kit
Ad Kit lets developers bring Snap Ads to apps. Snap says the new API was designed to help its partners grow whilst offering advertisers new ways to reach the Snapchat community.
Applications for Ad Kit are accepted via snapkit.com beginning today.
Summing up
New features for developers like App Stories, CreativeK it, Bitmoji Kit and Ad Kit are built on top of Snap Kit, the company’s official application programming interface (API) for third-party development.
To date, more than 200 apps have integrated with Snap Kit.
For additional information about Snap Kit, visit snapkit.com.
Are you a fan of the Snapchat app? If so, how do you like today’s new features for both customers and developers?
Let us know by leaving a comment below.