Introduction and Review

Snapchat, developed and provided by Snap Inc., is one of the most popular social media platforms around the world. Snapchat, which was born in 2011, is a reputable camera social app that allows users to not only take photos and videos with creative filters, but also customize creative snaps and share them with others using a variety of editing tools. With a wealth of features such as photo-taking, social communication and short video interaction, Snapchat has accumulated high popularity and high user engagement among millennials and Generation Z. On average, 293 million people use Snapchat for more than 30 minutes every day. Therefore, Snapchat is also known as the gathering place of global popular hipsters and the preferred social platform for young people.

As a new photo-taking app, Snapchat is definitely the best in terms of capturing and editing photos. Users can find a diversity of novel filters, stickers and Bitmojis on it every day, such as adding special effects, voice acting and even changing faces with animals in the videos they shot, giving you infinite possibilities to show your personality and ideas to the outside world.

Not only that, but Snapchat is also the most appropriate platform for young people to enhance their relationships with friends and family or socialize with strangers. Unlike other apps that only allow you to take photos or retouch images, Snapchat not only enables you to send real-time messages or share snapshots of each other with friends and family, but it also allows you to have a video chat with up to 16 friends at the same time to keep in touch and create friend-only Bitmojis. If you think Snapchat is all about exchanging messages and video calls, you're underestimating it. It also has a map feature designed to share users’ location with their friends in real time as well as to explore creative snaps taken by people nearby and around the world if they want to make friends with strangers.

More importantly, what makes Snapchat stand out from other photo-taking social apps is that its biggest feature is instant messaging, which means that once a user shares a snapshot or message with someone on Snapchat, it will be automatically deleted within a limited time (usually 10 seconds) once the other person has read it. This novel and highly privacy-protective setting support users to send more private messages or photos to contacts without worrying about them being leaked, and Snapchat also intelligently alerts the sender when the recipient takes a screenshot before the message disappears.

It’s worth mentioning that Snapchat also has a section called Snapchat Memories, which allows users to upload videos and snapshots from their devices to create a shareable album that helps users store and record fond memories.

Updates

In its latest update of version 12.11.1.28 on December 5th, 2022, developers fixed some bugs and improved the users’ experience. According to the update history, Snapchat has been updated basically 5 to 6 times a month to fix bugs newly appeared. However, there is no specific mention of what exactly has been fixed.

Features

1. Snapchat makes it easy, creative and fast to exchange pictures and videos between friends, family and even strangers.

2. Snapchat’s chat and video calling as well as game sections are of great assistance to help users bond more closely with contacts and help them socialize with strangers.

3. Users are free to use Snapchat’s innovative lenses, special effects and filters which are updated in real time to film and express themselves in a wealth of novel ways.