Snapchat+ Announced as New Premium Subscription for App
Snapchat has announced a new premium subscription service known as Snapchat+, for some reason. Snapchat is one of the biggest social media apps out there and has rapidly grown since its inception over a decade ago. The app began as a new way to communicate with friends, allowing users to share pictures with each other that would delete after opening. Of course, people found creative ways to use this and then the app continued to evolve with new features. Over time, Snapchat began adding filters, videos, video chats, animated characters, "stories", and even bite-sized news features for publications to utilize. It's a very unique app and although there have been attempts to mimic some of its popular features on other platforms, no one has really managed to compete at Snapchat's level.
Nevertheless, Snapchat is dipping its toe into subscription services with Snapchat+. The service allows users to pay $3.99/month or $39.99/year to access "exclusive features", some of which are experimental and not available otherwise. Some of these features include "ghost trails" which allows you to see a path of where people have been on the Snap Map if they share their location with you, which is a tad creepy. You can also see if anyone has rewatched your story, pin a best friend to the top of your list, and get some exclusive cosmetic icons and themes. All in all, it's nothing too crazy, but if you want to try it out, Snapchat+ has a free seven-day trial. You can access the service by visiting your settings within the Snapchat app and clicking on Snapchat+.
"Today we're starting to roll out Snapchat+, a collection of exclusive, experimental, and pre-release features available in Snapchat for $3.99/month," said Snapchat in a blog post. "This subscription will allow us to deliver new Snapchat features to some of the most passionate members of our community and allow us to provide prioritized support. Snapchat+ will be available at launch in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. We'll expand to more countries over time. Just tap Snapchat+ on your Snapchat profile to get started."
Whether anyone will actually use this remains to be seen, but Snapchat is following in the footsteps of Twitter which also created a subscription service called Twitter Blue. The service allows users to have more customization options with their profile, upload longer videos, view ad-free sites, and "undo" tweets before they get sent out to the timeline. It seems as though Snapchat+ will operate very similarly, but the company hasn't announced what its long-term plans are for the service.
What do you think of Snapchat+? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.