While Snapchat is known for allowing users to send disappearing chats and photos, called snaps, video calling has become a popular feature of the app, according to the company. Snapchat said its app hosts more than 100 million video calls each month with up to 15 participants each. Now, he hopes the service will become easier and more enjoyable to use when users join those calls from a desktop computer. The idea is similar to video calling services like Zoom ( ZM ), which exploded in popularity during the pandemic, but with some selling points unique to Snapchat. Users will be able to make calls more quickly and easily because they are already connected to friends and can see when others are connected, according to the company. Snapchat’s signature photo lenses — the ones that can make users appear to have dog ears, freckles or other features — will also soon be available for video calls on the web version.
As with the app, the web version of Snapchat opens directly to the camera to encourage users to send photos to friends. In a sidebar, users will see a list of their friends’ recent chats, where they can open snapshots or start a conversation. The web version won’t include all of the mobile app’s features, such as “Snap Map,” where users can track their friends, or the discovery section — at least to begin with, according to the company.
“With so many in our community spending more time online, whether it’s for remote learning or work, streaming or just browsing — we saw a huge opportunity to make it easier for our community to stay connected throughout the day,” a Snap spokesperson said. , the app’s parent company, said in a statement.
To protect users’ security and privacy, Snapchat for web prohibits users from taking screenshots of chats or snapshots (the app notifies users if someone takes screenshots of their chat or photo). The company also created a “privacy screen” to hide the Snapchat window if users click away. The release comes as Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, has been hammered on Wall Street after it posted a bigger-than-expected loss in its most recent earnings report and later warned investors that it had cut its upcoming quarterly guidance due to a worsening economy. Shares of Snap, which is due to report second-quarter earnings later this week, have fallen 70% since the start of this year. Last month, Snap introduced a new subscription service called Snapchat+ with the potential to increase its revenue. The web version may be a draw for the new $3.99 per month subscription option. At launch, the online version of Snapchat will be available to all users in Australia and New Zealand and Snapchat+ users in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. The service will soon roll out to Snapchat+ subscribers in France, Germany, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.