Since Snapchat’s launch in 2014, fans have wanted a way to share their photos and videos with users outside the app, and Snap is finally doing it.
The company is now making it easier for users to share and watch Snapchat videos outside the multimedia app. While this means more views for users' content, it also brings new eyes to Snapchat, as people without the app can view photos and videos.
Snapchat gave some reasoning for bringing the feature now, saying that it will let users send their content to anyone while demonstrating just how the app and features work. It also aims to make it easier for outside parties to share different stories and photos.
How Will Content Be Sent To Users Outside The App?
Snapchat users will be able to send their Stories to friends using email or text messages. First, users will have to swipe left on the camera screen, and they will be introduced to the new Discover page. Here, they’ll need to tap and hold a story tile and then select the share story option and choose how they’d want to send the story.
The options to send include SMS, email, and other messaging platforms, or users can simply copy the link for the story.
For each story, Snapchat will create a link that will redirect users to a video player at Snapchat.com. This is where anyone can watch videos from the app without logging in. However, not all stories will be sharable to the public.
The only shareable stories will be from Official Stories, Our Stories, and Search Stories. These will be from more high-profile publicly viewable stories. These different videos can be embedded into third-party websites and blogs. This could change as Snap has said that these shareable videos are just what’s included “at launch.”
These videos won’t last long as many have expiration dates. Official Stories shared to users who don’t have Snapchat will only be available for a 24-hour period. Our Stories will be available to those without an account for a 30-day period, and Search Stories will also be available for 30 days.
The new feature is going live to users who are running the latest Snapchat version. This includes different test markets such as Canada and Australia. The feature will also be available globally for iOS and Android over the next few weeks.
