Snapchat is planning a major revamp of its app that promises a simple interface, generative AI features, and a unified video entertainment experience (ie: TikTok). Here's a breakdown of upcoming changes:
- The app will simplify its design from five to three tabs: 1) Messages & Stories, 2) Camera, and a 3) TikTok-like video feed
- Effectively, Snap is merging its Spotlight tab with content from media brands, where it makes the most money from ads, intermingling friends and small creators with professional content producers into one feed, delivered in an algorithmic experience.
- Snap Map, one of the current five tabs, will now be accessible from the messaging tab, along with Stories from your friends and creators you follow.
- The new design, dubbed “Simple Snapchat” (currently in testing phase), is built around “Chatting, Snapping, and watching entertaining videos,” according to the company's VP of product.
- Snapchat is bringing Stories to the chat functionality so users can have video conversations with each other.
- A partnership with OpenAI will give Snapchat developers access to their LLMs for their apps.
- Snapchat is bringing generative AI tools to its Lens Studio, letting users create new lenses based on the tools.
- Snapchat users will soon also be able to create AI-generated videos based on text or image prompts.
- Lastly, Snapchat Spectacles got an update that bring a more fully-realized AR experience to the product for the first time.
- The upgraded Spectacles will be based on Snap OS, a new operating system “designed to enhance how people naturally interact with the world.”
The goal of the redesign is to make Snapchat a place to consume the type of video content you'd normally go to TikTok or Instagram for, as opposed to just being used to send private messages to friends. CEO Evan Spiegel told The Verge that he thinks the changes will translate to a better business for Snap's creators, who collectively share more than a billion pieces of content per month in the app.
Spiegel said, “One of the things that creators have done very effectively is use shortform video to grow their Stories audience and then monetize the Stories through our revenue share program. I think that will become even easier with this app layout, where the Stories from your friends or from creators you’re following live on the chat page, and then you can discover new creators or new content in full screen on the third tab.”