Redesigned Snapchat App: 5 Features Expected In New Version

Snap Inc., the parent company of short video app Snapchat, has announced a redesign of the app post its earnings call for the third quarter of 2017 on Thursday.

The call for redesigning the app seems to have been triggered by the company's disappointing earnings in Q3.

“One thing that we have heard over the years is that Snapchat is difficult to understand or hard to use, and our team has been working on responding to this feedback. As a result, we are currently redesigning our application to make it easier to use,” the company’s CEO, Evan Spiegel, stated in his performance remarks on Q3 earning for Snapchat.

Unlike other social networks, Snapchat has a video-dependent design which demands a very cohesive design to engage users. Also, unlike other social networks, the design has remained pretty much the same for a long time. However this may change with the new update, expected to be launched on Dec. 4.

“There is a strong likelihood that the redesign of our application will be disruptive to our business in the short term, and we don’t yet know how the behavior of our community will change when they begin to use our updated application. We’re willing to take that risk for what we believe are substantial longterm benefits to our business,” Spiegel further added in his remarks.

While the company has not revealed what changes it will be making to the app, Business Insider got information on the expected features of the redesigned app. Here are five expected features of the Snapchat redesign:

Facebook-like feed: The redesigned app is expected to have a social media feed similar to that of Facebook and Twitter. The feed is expected to be focused on what people are watching at the time of the user viewing it.

Camera-centric: Despite the redesign, the app is expected to be still camera centric and open to a device’s camera. Chances are that Snapchat might provide added support for cameras other than smartphones, for example Wi-Fi enabled cameras such as GoPro.

New thread layout: The old design showed message threads between friends to the left and shared Snapchat Stories to the right. The new design is expected to move all friend-based communication, including Stories, to the left of the camera. On the right side of the camera will be all crowd sourced videos centered on trending events in sports, games and news.

Personalized feeds: The app, according to anonymous sources reported by Business Insider, will use new algorithms to allow users to personalize “endless” feeds, which will show one video after another on a topic. This will increase engagement time for users. However, it is unclear how this change will affect Snapchat’s current media partners, who produce content for the app’s Discover section.

Monetization: The biggest change that is expected with the app is monetization. While CEO Spiegel has previously expressed his disdain for monetization on the app, declining earnings seem to have forced him to reconsider his stance. He told investors in a call that the redesigned app will offer internet celebrities ways to monetize their videos.