Snapchat is all about visuals, but a new feature will extend its reach as a platform for communication. The wildly popular photo and video sharing service has added a group chat feature to allow for conversations with up to 16 people.

The new feature, announced Tuesday morning by Snapchat, introduces a new way to communicate with people on the app beyond one-on-one chats.

How To Group Chat On Snapchat

Groups can be quickly created either by choosing users to send a snap to or by starting a new chat and selecting the names of the people you want to put in the party. The group creator can name the conversation, making it easy to organize the purpose of the conversation.

The users of the group are displayed at the bottom of the screen. Tapping a person's name moves to a one-on-one conversation with that user. Snapchat is calling the ability to jump into a direct message without pinging the entire group Quick Chat.

Group chats function essentially the same as a standard Snapchat conversation, including stickers, video notes, Bitmoji and more.

Snaps received in group messages can be opened and replayed just one time by each member of the group. Unopened snaps disappear within 24 hours, and conversations as a whole are deleted after 24 hours.

In addition to the group chat functionality, Snapchat is also introducing new creative tools for sending snaps. The app now includes a scissors tool that allows users to cut out part of a snap before sending it and turn it into a sticker.

Another new feature, called Paintbrush, can be applied to images and videos saved to a user’s Memories file. The feature applies artistic filters to saved photos and videos to add some new style to those past memories.

Finally, Snapchat has added Shazam integration into the app so users will be able to quickly identify songs around them while sending snaps.

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