{"id":136529,"date":"2019-05-07T20:53:17","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T20:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=136529"},"modified":"2025-07-01T22:00:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T05:00:57","slug":"snapchat-new-features","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/snapchat-new-features\/","title":{"rendered":"Snapchat announces big new features"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"snaplenses\"<\/p>\n

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel just announced a whole host of updates that prove that Snap, the company, is gearing up for an expansion that extends well beyond Snapchat, the app.<\/p>\n

Spiegel made the announcement at the company\u2019s first partner summit, telling the audience that new AR features, original content, integrations, <\/strong>and even a Snap-powered ad network<\/strong> were about to launch.<\/p>\n

Clearly, Spiegel is hoping for a comeback, one that positions Snap as a serious Facebook competitor. Here’s a look at some of the announcements:<\/p>\n

Snap AR: What’s new?<\/span><\/p>\n

Snap\u2019s new augmented reality experience comes with a range of tools that allow the use of augmented reality tools. As is the case with Google\u2019s ARCore<\/a> and Apple\u2019s ARKit, the basis of the AR suite revolves around your phone\u2019s camera and lens.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a quick rundown of what you\u2019ll find inside:<\/p>\n

Scan<\/h3>\n

Scan is Snap\u2019s new camera search function.<\/strong> It\u2019s not quite a camera-powered search engine. How Scan works is, users press and hold the Snap camera screen and the app will present them with a selection of \u201crelevant experiences\u201d based on their environment.<\/p>\n

Scan is also designed to read snap codes, bar codes and products to make purchases on Amazon and users can scan their environment to learn more about music playing with a Shazam<\/a> integration.<\/p>\n

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Snapchat Lens Studio<\/h3>\n

The Snapchat Lens Studio<\/a> has been around since 2017, but they\u2019ve added a few things to flesh out the platform.<\/p>\n

The Lens Studio now includes a template called Landmarkers, which allows users to transform the world\u2019s landmarks into AR creations (not sure why we need this, but OK).<\/p>\n

Other templates include body tracking, pet tracking, and hand tracking \u2014 all work the same way \u2014 you\u2019ll create AR overlays that track with the aforementioned elements.<\/p>\n

Soon, users will be able to create Lens Creator Profiles, which Snapchat says is a new platform for \u201cbuilding an audience\u201d and sharing your Lenses.<\/p>\n

The platform also includes something called Photomath<\/a>. Users can take a picture of their math homework or a receipt and get an answer in return.<\/p>\n

Snap Games<\/h3>\n

Snapchat has announced Snap Games, which is similar to Facebook Messenger\u2019s Instant Games, a mix of ported HTML5 versions of arcade games, in-house originals, and new offerings from Zynga and ZeptoLabs.<\/p>\n

According to TechCrunch, the gaming platform stands to increase the amount of time users spend inside the app<\/a>, which allows them to boost their revenue stream through ad views.<\/p>\n

Introducing Snap’s Utility Partners<\/h2>\n

One reason that Facebook has been able to attract and retain so many (billions!) of users is, Mark Zuckerberg has long embraced third-party app makers. Snapchat\u2019s Spiegel, not so much.<\/p>\n

Snap is finally changing its tune and they\u2019re gearing up to compete with Facebook.<\/p>\n

Snapchat plans to let apps like Tinder, Houseparty, incorporate elements of their technology into outside apps.<\/p>\n

Snap is doing a lot\u2026 will it help them grow?<\/h2>\n

Snap is changing up their approach to making money. Instead of focusing on growth, the company is working to monetize the users they have.<\/p>\n

While Snapchat still has a stable user base, there has been no shortage of rumors swirling around the web \u2014 predicting the app\u2019s demise.<\/p>\n

Still, Snapchat already has some distinct advantages over the competition. And these new features could be a big win for Snap. They have games now! They\u2019ll do your homework! And there’s more…<\/p>\n

Speaking of more\u2026 Snapchat also does ads now<\/h2>\n

They\u2019re also developing an ad platform to get in on the big tech business model.<\/p>\n

Spiegel claims that Snap\u2019s approach to ads is different than Facebook\u2019s in-app paid ads.<\/p>\n

Instead, they plan on selling ads that appear inside other companies\u2019 apps.<\/p>\n

Snap Audience Network is similar to Facebook\u2019s Audience Network, which allows apps developers to sign up for the program and provide space for advertisers to display their ads.<\/p>\n

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Because the platform has stopped growing, Snap is partnering with other companies to bring more value to advertisers \u2014 widening the number of people who might see the ad. This makes sense, as they definitely can\u2019t compete with Facebook\u2019s massive audience-targeting tools.<\/p>\n

That said, companies concerned with Facebook\u2019s privacy ethics might be attracted to Snap. The company has repeatedly stated that their developer partners do not have access to Snapchat users\u2019 personal data.<\/p>\n

Instead, only Snapchat display names are shared with companies when a user links their account to a third-party app.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth pointing out that targeted ads depend on user data, so advertisers might not get the same return on ad investment with Snapchat as they might when they advertise on Instagram.<\/p>\n

Can they compete with the likes of Facebook?<\/h2>\n

It remains to be seen whether Snap will rise to the level of Google and Facebook and emerge as a serious competitor.<\/p>\n

According to CNBC, Snap stock rose following the announcement, yet a lack of growth remains a concern.<\/p>\n

That said, Snap is putting its eggs in as many revenue baskets as possible. Perhaps at least one will hatch into something that will save the platform.<\/p>\n

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5 amazing Snaplenses for gamers<\/p>\r\n Read Now \u25ba<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From AR to ads, here’s what Snapchat is planning for the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9161,"featured_media":137541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[1015],"tags":[2357,1047],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-136529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-app-subdomain-redirectionsnapchat","tag-snapchat"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t