Snap Inc. announces major redesign for Snapchat on Android

Looks like Snap Inc. is finally going to pay better attention to its Android user base. In an investor note that’s part of the company’s third quarter 2017 financial results, Snap’s CEO Evan Spiegel announced that they are working on a major revamp of Snapchat on Android, citing they’re building it “from the ground up.” The app will be built from what the company’s Android development team has learned from working on Android in the past five years. Spiegel claims that the new Android version will be “a huge focus over the coming year.” The company says they saw “significantly more Android users” added with the improvements they’ve added to the app, even when compared to iOS users.

Spiegel didn’t give a specific time frame for the release of the new Android app but they did say it’s coming out in a limited number of markets first before they roll it out worldwide. On top of this, Snap is exploring a redesign of the app to appeal to a wider audience, even if this might be as he says “disruptive to our business in the short term.” These announcements come out as Snap reported a lower-than-expected 4.5 million new Snapchat users in the third quarter. The app currently has 178 million daily active users.

Source: Android Authority

Snapchat takes on Google with Context Cards

Ever watched Snaps on Snapchat and wonder how to get to that awesome restaurant your friend is at? You don’t have to wonder anymore with the latest feature Snapchat is introducing into its app. Called Context Cards, this lets you swipe up on some of your friends’s photos and videos to pull up details about the businesses they are at. The cards will show you things like reviews, contact information, reservations, maps, and even the option to call an Uber or Lyft to the store or restaurant. Snapchat has partnered with the likes of Foursquare, Opentable, Michelin, and the aforementioned two ride-sharing services. Context Cards will also allow you to pull up more public snaps from the area.

Context Cards remind us of the cards Google uses for its Search feature but instead of relying on your written text, Snapchat makes use of the photo or video you are viewing to answer questions like “Where is this person at? What else is there? How can I get there?” They work under the assumption that when someone is enjoying being someplace you might want to learn more about this area. 

Source: Fast Co Design

Google tipped to be building its own take to Snapchat’s Discover feature

Everyone seems to have some sort of Snapchat Stories-like feature in its services. And it looks like Google is looking to build the same thing but with a slight twist. The focus will be on having news publishers create Snapchat-like stories to appear on its search engine. It’ll look similar to Snapchat’s Discover section that shows a mix of photos, videos, and text. According to The Wall Street Journal, it’ll be supposedly called “Stamp” with the “St” meaning stories. Not much is known about these rumoured plans but The Verge speculates it might be seen beneath the search bar, where Android users are already being shown things like recommended websites and news stories.

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Google reportedly wanted to buy Snap for US$30 billion

While it isn’t the first time it’s happened, it seems Facebook wasn’t the only one after Snapchat’s parent company Snap Inc. Google reportedly wanted a piece of the incredibly popular pie and tried to buy the company for US$30 billion. According to Business Insider, Google verbally talked about the acquisition of Snapchat with the company’s CEO Evan Spiegel. Snap is denying that formal discussions happened. Google also won’t comment on the story. According to the report though, the offer was supposedly still on the table since the company’s IPO early on in March.

Whether or not there’s truth to this, Spiegel is known to like being in charge of his own company, especially with a product he started himself. It would’ve benefited Snapchat on the marketing side if they took the deal and Snapchat would’ve helped Google develop its AR technology. But in the meantime, Snap and Google do work close together. Google’s investment arm put money on Snapchat after it went public. While Snap is considered one of Google Cloud’s biggest customers and they promise to spend US$2 billion on Google’s cloud platform.

Source: GSMArena + 9to5Google