
Putting the Chat into Snapchat - dnlserrano
http://blog.snapchat.com/post/84407744185/putting-the-chat-into-snapchat
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jameswilsterman
I think this will be big, specifically the video aspect. Removes the biggest
problems with video chat (Skype, hangouts etc.) feeling 'weird'. My immediate
thoughts:

A) Don't feel like you're getting roped into a long conversation (you have to
hold down on the screen, so of course it will be short!)

B) Doesn't feel like you are bothering people by calling them without knowing
if they are free to videochat (they are clearly using snapchat at that moment
so they're probably not too busy)

C) No need to have something specific to talk about; can just say hi quickly
and see what your friends are up to.

D) As a bonus, if you are messaging with someone in the text interface and get
to a point in the conversation where you need to communicate something
complex, just use the video chat feature for 20 secs. and then go back to the
more async g-chat style text messaging.

~~~
gms7777
The video aspect of it seems like a fantastic feature and I think your point A
is very important. At least for myself, I have friends and family that are far
away and I love to talk to, and would love to have quick chats with more
often, except that when we start talking it ends up taking hours, so I'm
hesitant to get into it unless I know I have the time to spare.

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jxf
I wonder if we need an update to jwz's famous quote [0]:

"Every program attempts to expand until it implements user-to-user messaging.
Those programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones that can."

[0]: [http://www.jwz.org/hacks/](http://www.jwz.org/hacks/)

~~~
dang
Just as a clerical point, it would be better not to put a modified quote
inside quotation marks. Currently, it looks like you're quoting the cited
article when you're not.

~~~
paulbaumgart
Really, the quotation marks need scare quotes, so you know they're just so-
called quotation marks: "'"<modified quotation here>"'"

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sethbannon
Dragging your video bubble from the top of the screen to the bottom causing a
switch to the front facing camera seems like a really clever design decision.

~~~
ballpoint
It sounds like it might be a little RSI-inducing though, having to press your
finger down all the time.

~~~
sscalia
I'm gonna make an assumption that you (and many people on here) sit all day
and probably don't exercise intensely regularly, eat healthily, or sleep very
well.

I don't think "RSI" by swiping on a screen is your most pressing health
concern.

~~~
ballpoint
Okay, but at least some of your assumptions are wrong. I recommend melatonin
and the flux app for great sleep.

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Dwolb
I'm pretty torn on this. In my main circle of Snapchat friends, we use the app
to make creative messages for each other that can't be seen again. It's really
special because it feels like we're all hanging out again back in college:
we're funny, spontaneous, a little bit inappropriate, and outsiders just won't
get the jokes.

My own want for the update was to focus more on allowing us to express
ourselves: give us easier and better tools to enable us to make messages more
fun for each other. The feature could have been allowing users to record
drawing strokes over a video or picture (sort of how Draw Something images
presented themselves to the guesser) to give us another dimension to play
with, time.

Instead the app just moved toward the mainstream app features, which are all
mostly the same.

~~~
ballpoint
I think the main thrust of the update is providing this ephemeral face-to-face
'meeting' of your friends throughout the day, as if you're seeing them in the
corridor, just like college. The text chat seems to be more of a platform for
facilitating that.

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ghiculescu
This is a great. I find that half my snapchats are boring photos of my face,
lunch, or coffee mug, just so I can put a caption over them. No more!

It also seems like a full on attack against Facebook messenger.

~~~
dnlserrano
Totally agree about Facebook messenger. This is a game changer. FB messenger
is going to be the I'm-on-the-subway-and-don't-know-anyone-so-I-better-not-
look-silly kinda app, and that's boring.

~~~
sillysaurus3
_I 'm-on-the-subway-and-don't-know-anyone-so-I-better-not-look-silly kinda
app_

Hmm, what does this mean? I really don't understand, sorry! Sounds interesting
though.

~~~
dnlserrano
It means people will user Facebook messenger when they are not comfortable
with the place they are in. If I'm at home, at my university or my cousins' I
will chose Snapchat over Facebook messenger, because I'll feel free enough
that I can talk and goof around with that app, in a way that is not possible
with Facebook... yet! Also, I think there are people less boring than me who
will not give a damn and will use Snapchat's Chat everyday, everywhere, and
that's going to be awesome. As clichéd as it might sound, they really are
changing the way we communicate.

~~~
rgallagher27
If the newest update is anything to go by (auto sending image as soon as it is
taken) FB messenger is trying to get away from that

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hemaljshah
Really cool design, I love the dragging of the bubble to choose a camera.

This is starting to move away from the original value prop of Snapchat. If you
can save chat bits, what's the difference in using any messaging service.
Also, who usually is taking selfies or is using text message to talk to
someone when they want to video chat? During most hours when you're on the go,
you send asynchronous media since it's easier to create and digest that
content from both parties. This feature won't add to the success that they've
seen from their core product, just cause a nice little bump in traffic - not a
game changer.

~~~
bcaine
I would argue that a good portion of snapchats use happens in extended
conversations (for example, flirting). Adding the ability to quickly drop into
video to share something will feel pretty organic and add to the experience.

It may not add to their original value prop, but it is a value add to the way
people are actually using the product.

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matznerd
Snapchat has an advantage in adding new features like this in that their user
base is one of the trendiest groups out there. They are young, hyper-social,
and early adopters who have very high affinity for the service. I believe
Snapchat can get them to use new features like this, where others like the
bigger, slower, and less cool Facebook, would not get the same type of
adoption.

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esquivalience
Doesn't this start to erode the spontaneity and key purpose of Snapchat?

To what extent do you think this is feature creep?

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k-mcgrady
I think it's supposed to be ephemeral (not spontaneous). The ephemerality
doesn't change with this update as the conversations disappear when they're
completed (with the option to save important messages). Similar to
conversations IRL I guess. You speak with someone, note down/save important
things such as addresses and then everything else is lost.

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higherpurpose
When are they going to put proper encryption into Snapchat?

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grrowl
This is an interesting part — they're focussing so much on the product but the
underlying protocol is still vulnerable to use outside of the app itself,
leading the way to spambots, saving of snaps and general degradation of the
"niceness" of the ecosystem.

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finkin1
I'm not sure why, but it delights me to imagine Snapchat demolishing FB in the
messaging wars, particularly after FB spent $19B on Whatsapp.

I think these are some pretty awesome new features. I just got the update via
Android, but my friends don't seem to have it yet. I'm excited to try it out,
but I don't think I'll ever get completely away from Hangouts, since I use
Drive/Gmail to run my startup.

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muppetman
Don't you mean taking the snap out of snapchat?

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yefim
This is amazing! I love the subtle swipe down to change from back camera to
front facing camera.

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k-mcgrady
I like this. It'll give me a lot more reason to use Snapchat. Currently I've
sent only a few snaps but I use Facebook Messenger all the time. If my friends
started using this I would become more active on Snapchat.

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baby
As a user I always found it annoying that I couldn't answer to a snapchat in
the app itself (without taking a picture and writing something in it). I
always had to go to snapchat or fb messenger to answer.

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theshadowmonkey
There is no send button next to the chat. seriously? I type something and try
hitting that button and it goes into video mode. And I also had the app
crashing multiple time on iPhone 5s today.

~~~
oliomel
It's in the keyboard

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anjc
What's their differentiator now?

Of course current users might say "great, another feature i want!", but, wont
this just muddy their market position?

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KhalPanda
I still can't believe they turned down $3bn.

~~~
k-mcgrady
Look at how much Facebook paid for Whatsapp. Features like this new chat
feature will probably help SnapChat grow a lot bigger - then Facebook will
come back with a much bigger offer.

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KhalPanda
Maybe. I can't think of much I could do with "maybe" $30bn, that I couldn't do
with "definite" $3bn though!

\- A lifestyle programmer.

~~~
ulyssesgrant
Well said. Pigs get slaughtered, too.

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pisarzp
This is something that I was missing a lot! I like snapchat, but hate to take
stupid pictures just to send message.

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jonchang
I suppose the natural follow up question is, how will this affect my Snapchat
score?

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jerv
clearing messages when you leave the chat window will make people not use it

~~~
pabb
Not sure why someone felt the appropriate response was to downvote you rather
than voicing their disagreement. I think you're right.

With WhatsApp picking up speed in my close friend circle, Facebook messenger
being used for everyone else, and the occasional Google hangouts messages when
I feel like being online, I don't think even taking the "ephemeral" approach
is going to make a difference in persuading me to start picking Snapchat over
competing platforms. Snapchat is fun because as other users mentioned, I get
to send bullshit one-off joke snaps to my friends. I don't want to maintain a
conversation of any sort through another app. However, knowing the
conversation is immediately cleared further dissuades me. The point of this
feature is that it's good for non-committal "conversations" and very easy to
engage/disengage. But I already have WhatsApp for that, and I have group
conversations there, and my messages aren't deleted.

~~~
tbomb
Snapchat has always been more about the one-to-one messaging. Yes you can do
one-to-many, but it still gives a more personal feel than a many-to-many group
message. You had to click on that person to send it to them, you actively
thought about them no matter how instantaneously.

I use Snapchat for both very close friends and acquaintances too, I can send
both inside jokes or just a simple hello to someone I haven't spoken to in a
while. I don't feel an obligation to respond to snapchats and don't feel
ignored when someone doesn't respond to mine, how I would via text, or
facebook messenger.

I personally never use facebook messenger. I've had it turned off for a couple
of years now and only use it on the rare occasion that a friend changed phone
numbers (friends moving abroad mostly) and even that is just to get their new
number so I can use whatsapp or text messaging. As for whatsapp I strictly use
it for large, on going, group messages or friends in other countries. But I
guess everyone has their own use-cases.

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giga_cardoso
Is the update only available in the US? nothing here in Portugal

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kivikakk
Neither in Australia.

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jogzden
I just got the update now. Check again. I'm really liking the new UI.

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changdizzle
Anyone know which video chat API they're using?

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zscho97
Does it say when it is getting released?

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manzzup
Really? now starts a new form of vulnerability :3 personal stuff

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apl002
Worst Update Ever.

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Splendor
I think it would add more to the discussion if you explained your reasoning.

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notastartup
look at all those teens without credit cards liking the tumblr post.

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Fasebook
The technology of the internet sure has come a long way!

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dayaz36
It's not a coincidence that they are coming out with new features right before
CyberDust is about to become big(they are coming to Android this month). I
will switch to CyberDust as soon it comes to Android not just because it's
better than snapchat functionally, but because it doesn't reveal the people
you talk to most to the whole world. I know a lot of people that don't have
snapchat specifically for this reason.

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highace
CyberDusts leading app store reviews are so obviously shilled it hurts. They
actually read like they were written to go in the description section.

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mklopets
Not a fan. Almost everyone I know has stopped using Snapchat. Its servers are
god-awful - don't work 50% of the time here and people have got tired of
seeing friends' sushi pictures & selfies 24/7.

Also, choosing not to support Windows Phone (and apparantly not even recording
WP users' requests) is a really stupid move in my opinion.

Furthermore, I see no reason why Snapchat should be preferred over Facebook
Messenger. If you want to share a moment with a friend, you might as well
share it for more than 10 seconds. Messenger always works reliably for me.
Snapchat doesn't. Case closed.

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mklopets
Also, Facebook itself, not taking into account its Messenger, is dying out -
90% of the newsfeed is covered with posts from sites like The Verge or any
other sites that you follow. The actual amount of stuff that you care about is
2% of it all. Can't honestly remember someone posting a legitimately
_interesting_ status update. Instead, I see selfies and news.

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napolux
On Android the Snapchat apps keep crushing.

I know I have a fancy red phone nobody uses (I think it's called NEXUS 5 from
a company named Goodle or Google, I can't remember).

So, before putting new stuff in the app, please fix it!

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bbrks
Snapchat has long been unstable on the Nexus 4. For almost a year now.

[https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=67113](https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=67113)

