After a disappointing earning report, and poor projections, Snapchat announces a pair of upcoming changes aimed at increasing revenue.
New AR Trial Ads and Promoted Stories coming to Snapchat
Snapchat
It’s not just you, Snapchat is down for many
Reports have been coming in from many places that Snapchat servers have not been operating properly this afternoon, with a widespread service outage affecting a lot of people.
Move and resize Snapchat filters at will with SCFilterMover
Most Snapchat users are accustomed to the Emoji and Filter features accessible in the app for supplementing your Snaps with further expression. On the other hand, Snapchat doesn’t provide users with as much freedom to move and transform filters as they do with Emojis.
A new free jailbreak tweak called SCFilterMover by iOS developer NeinZedd9 fixes that, giving you just as much filter plasticity as you already have with Emojis.
How to create and use Snapchat groups on your iPhone
Find out how to use the Snapchat group chat feature on your iPhone or Android phone to text and talk with multiple friends at the same time.
Manage your recent Snaps more efficiently with SnapchatRecents
If you’ve got a lot of friends in Snapchat and you find it challenging to keep up with everyone’s snaps, then a new free jailbreak tweak called SnapchatRecents by iOS developer NeinZedd9 could help.
This tweak helps prevent you from forgetting to respond to your friends in Snapchat by using a couple of pressuring tactics to get you to answer them more quickly.
Apple promoting WWDC 2017 with themed Snapchat geofilters
With the live-streamed WWDC keynote almost upon us, Apple has now created a bespoke Snapchat geofilter to help promote this year's developers conference. The sponsored WWDC 2017-themed geofilter automatically appears for Snapchat users who find themselves near the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose.
As first noted by 9to5Mac, the filter is available when sharing photos or videos with other Snapchat users. Simply choose it from the list of Snapchat filters to have Apple's official WWDC 2017 banner design applied to your item. Again, this is a filter that uses geofencing so only people attending this year's developer conference will see it in Snapchat.
The same stickers can be found in iMessage via Apple's official WWDC app, as shown above.
Snapchat is available at no charge from App Store.
Can Facebook win over the Snapchat audience with purported teen-centric Talk app?
Facebook has been adding Snapchat-like features to its mobile apps over the last several months, but new reports now point towards yet another app that could help make Facebook the go-to service for teenage users.
Not to be outdone by Instagram, Snapchat unveils custom Stories of its own
Just a few hours following Instagram's announcement regarding all-new location and hashtag-based Stories in the app's Explore tab, rival Snapchat just announced custom Stories of its own. Now there's a new way to create Stories in Snapchat 10.9 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
You can create a custom Story in a specific location or with your cherry-picked friends. “It's perfect for a trip, a birthday party or a new baby Story just for the family,” notes Snap.
Tap the Create Story icon in the top-right corner of the Stories screen to get started.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohN8cv7nUmA
Song: “Sunroof” by courtship
Of course, you have the tools at your disposal to control who can add to your Story and who can view it. And by using geofencing, you can attach your Story to a specific location. Your custom Story disappears automatically if no one has contributed to it in the past 24 hours.
Aside from custom Stories, this edition of Snapchat puts your own Bitmoji selfie inside your Snapcode. To change the mood of your Bitmoji, just tap the Edit Bitmoji command.
Grab Snapchat for free on App Store.
Snapchat launches limitless snaps, new Magic Eraser & Loop tools
Snap Inc. announced yesterday that it'd added new features to its mobile Snapchat app, including limitless snaps as well as a pair of all-new creative tools in the form of the Magic Eraser and Loop features.
For starters, you can now draw with emojis. Simply tap the doodle tool to get started. If you'd like to access Snapchat's new Magic Eraser tool, tap the Scissors tool, then the Stars icon.
To let your friends view your snaps for as long as they want, use the new Loop tool for videos. With this Instagram Boomerang-like feature, you can easily decide whether your snap plays once or loops until your friend is ready to tap to the next one (the infinity option for the timer).
According to the company:
We’ve all felt the frustration of not being able to fully enjoy a snap—even after replaying it—and we wanted to give you the option of allowing the recipient to enjoy your snap as long as they’d like. After your friend finishes viewing the snap and taps to close it, it will delete as usual.
The new creative tools require Snapchat version 10.8 or later.
Snapchat for iOS available at no charge on App Store.
Snapchat launching original TV shows lasting between 3-5 minutes long
Snap Inc. is gearing up to launch original TV shows on the service that would last between three and five minutes long. As per the Wall Street Journal today, the company has partnered with a bunch of content owners on the initiative, including NBCUniversal, Turner, A+E Networks, Discovery, BBC, ABC, ESPN, Vice Media, Vertical Networks, NFL and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Snap is aiming to air between two and three new episodes of original TV shows per day by the end of 2017. The company is looking for scripted dramas, daily news shows, horror, documentaries, animated shows and more.
Snap is also in discussions with CBS and Fox, said people familiar with the matter.
They could soon reach a deal with Scripps Networks Interactive, which owns Food Network and HGTV. According to the report, HGTV could produce offshoots of its current TV shows for Snap, including House Hunters and Chopped.
TV companies “are flocking” to create original shows for Snap because its executives “embrace certain old media values” like scarcity and promoting a select group of premium content above user-generated fare.
“I don't want to be a TV killer,” said a former News Corp. executive who works for Snap.
Here's an excerpt from the article:
To this extent, Snapchat might change some fundamental aspects of the social network in order to encourage binging and catching up with its shows, instead of sticking to its ephemeral content strategy which removed some past shows from the service after 48 hours.
For the new slate of TV shows, it's still unclear when exactly Snapchat plans to begin the launch, but users can at least expect them to begin debuting by the end of the year.
TV shows will be provided in the Stories tab of the mobile Snapchat app.
Snap has now launched an interactive audition experience akin to “The Voice” in its mobile app.
NBC's “Saturday Night Live” has already created original shows for Snapchat, like an episode pictured top of post where a couple tries to boycott all things related to Donald.
Snapchat’s augmented reality Lenses feature finally works with your iPhone’s rear camera
A Lens feature on Snapchat, originally introduced in September 2014, has just gotten a whole lot better because the latest update to the company's iOS app now lets you—at long last—use augmented-reality Lenses with your iPhone's rear camera. With Lenses, you can add real-time effects into your snaps, courtesy of the company's advanced face-detection technology. Before today, Lenses were only available via the front-facing camera.
Snapchat’s new tools let brands see how well geofilter ads are performing among users
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Snapchat has rolled out new tools for marketers, called Snap to Store, allowing brands to see how well geofilter ads are performing among users. They've been testing it with a handful of brands since last year, including Paramount Pictures and 7-Eleven. The firm is now looking to expand Snap to Store to a wider range of brands from the retail, fast food, movie and automobile sectors.