Snapchat Adds New Features in a Bid to Differentiate from Copy-Cat Counterparts

Poor Snapchat; everyone's stealing their features (and in some cases, being more successful with them). The filters and the Stories features have been taken and used by rival company Facebook on Messenger and photo-sharing app Instagram. As expected, after being robbed and overtaken by their competitor, Snapchat have brought out a new update with tweaks to the app, in a bid to set themselves apart and draw users back in; here's the low-down on the recent update:

Time Limit Tweaks

When Snapchat was first introduced, it was very basic and something no-one had seen before. You could simply send a photo, doodle on it or add some text, and send it to a friend for a certain amount of seconds; but no more than ten. The fact that the message or silly selfie was temporary made the app original and very in-the-moment.

Now, the app still has the option to choose the amount of seconds you want to send your snap for, but also has a little infinity symbol available, which indicates that there's no limit, and the Snap will be visible until you click off it. Great if 10 seconds of your friend's cute pug isn't enough right? Sit there and coo at it a little longer if you fancy it.

'No limit' is a slight exaggeration, as photos still vanish after 24 hours, and unless you really love that photo of the pug, you'll likely tap to make the photo vanish after a few minutes at most, so the temporary principle of Snapchat is still present.

Magic Eraser

An interesting new addition to the editing tools is the Magic Eraser tool. By tapping the scissors icon on the editing screen - along with the cut and copy option still available - there's an icon of three-stars, which is your erasing tool.

But when would you use it?

Maybe you've taken a great selfie; you've got the lighting right, the angle right - it's one you'll want to plaster on ALL of your accounts. Problem is, your friend's surprise birthday gift is photobombing you, lurking in the background - really visible - and you want to send them the selfie. With the new tool you can make it vanish, and still share your selfie with everyone; problem solved!

Or, in a less urgent scenario, erase your eyebrows or a few teeth in a selfie for a laugh. Either way; great new feature.

Videos on Loop

The final new feature is the new Loop tool, using which you can choose to put your snap video on loop, or just play it once. You're basically making your short Snapchat video a GIF, which plays on loop over and over again. Again, if you send a looped video to a friend, they can choose when to click off it and make it disappear.

This new feature is comparable to the popular Boomerang feature on Instagram....are Snapchat playing them at their own game? Yes, while the video simply repeats on loop rather than being all artsy and reversing when repeated, some have picked up the similarities.

Snap Inc. conclude their press release on the update, which was released yesterday, by saying:

"These changes allow us to continue evolving the Snapchat service and provide a foundation for introducing even more creative tools for making fun Snaps! We hope you enjoy it!"

Laura Sewell

An aspiring journalist, Laura is our Content Writer intern.  Pop-punk gig-goer and drag queen enthusiast, Laura is working her way into the industry, with an English A -Level and love of writing about anything and everything in tow. Find her daily musings on twitter @Songbird_Lauras

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