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Apr 12, 2001
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Ephemeral photo sharing service Snapchat has released a significant update to its iOS app today, which brings integration of a new "Chat" text messaging feature and "Here" live video chat feature.

The app's new Chat feature allows a user to swipe right on a friend's name in the inbox to start text messaging, as messages in the chat screen disappear upon leaving the window. While in a conversation, users can also press and hold the blue photo button to pop in and out of live video chat, which uses a swipe up gesture to share video on the iPhone's front facing camera and a swipe gesture down to share video on the rear facing camera.

Snapchat saw its last major update in October 2013, which brought a new "Snapchat Stories" news feed feature. The app has also been the subject of some controversy in the past few months, as a security breach last December compromised the user names and phone numbers of more than 4.6 million customers, while a vulnerability in February opened up the iPhone to denial-of-service attacks.

Snapchat is a free app for iOS devices and can be downloaded through the App Store. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Snapchat Updated with Text Messaging and Live Video Calls
 

bushido

Suspended
Mar 26, 2008
8,070
2,755
Germany
i got the video snap from their team but no update for me at the appstore so far. was a bit confused
 

DiscoMcDisco

macrumors regular
Jul 31, 2013
166
40
London
Nothing so far in the UK update wise.

And they really need to work on the Branding now... the interface etc is quite intuitive and easy to use, but it looks like crap lol
 

bushido

Suspended
Mar 26, 2008
8,070
2,755
Germany
Nothing so far in the UK update wise.

And they really need to work on the Branding now... the interface etc is quite intuitive and easy to use, but it looks like crap lol

apparently its only for beta testers. the snap promoting it was sent out prematurely i guess
 

Mildredop

macrumors 68020
Oct 14, 2013
2,478
1,510
Should have taken the money and run, you lunatics.

w00t. One more generic messaging service.

Lunatics? How can you say that? We all know that these trendy apps last forever, with their popularity growing year after year. $3bn?! Pah! You'd be a lunatic to accept that tiny amount of cash.
 

iPhone7s

macrumors member
Mar 6, 2014
77
26
apparently its only for beta testers. the snap promoting it was sent out prematurely i guess

It wasn't sent out prematurely. It's being rolled out quite slowly. Some have it, some don't have it yet. App store issue rather than snapchat.
 

bushido

Suspended
Mar 26, 2008
8,070
2,755
Germany
It wasn't sent out prematurely. It's being rolled out quite slowly. Some have it, some don't have it yet. App store issue rather than snapchat.

how does one "roll out" an app update on iOS to specific people though, once its approved shouldnt it be available at the appstore no matter what. its not like the app itself updates. i know you can roll out an update at different times for different countries but i dont think it works user dependent?
 

iPhone7s

macrumors member
Mar 6, 2014
77
26
how does one "roll out" an app update on iOS to specific people though, once its approved shouldnt it be available at the appstore no matter what. its not like the app itself updates. i know you can roll out an update at different times for different countries but i dont think it works user dependent?

I assume it's just taking it's time to show up on the App Store in different locations or devices. Not many updates are publicly awaited so you normally wouldn't notice it not showing up straight away.

https://twitter.com/snapchatsupport/status/461821257206743040
 
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phillytim

macrumors 68000
Aug 12, 2011
1,747
1,239
Philadelphia, PA
I'm not using any app that first invokes the battery-sucking camera even to get to the texting part. That's a big reason that Kik wins out for me.

Should Snapchat make it so I can start with text, and switch to camera if I'd like to, then I might reconsider.
 

rapicell

macrumors regular
Mar 20, 2013
248
58
Adding video chat and messaging ruins the entire point of the app, which was "A snapshot or video of the moment"

While you of course don't have to use the new features, they've still turned themselves into everyone else =\
 
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