Snapchat means business. Although most people think selfies when they think of Snapchat, Snapchat wants to change that perception. Now, the app has added video calls and self-destructing chats to make Snapchat a more well-rounded app.
Previously, Snapchat users could only send photos and shirt videos, which would then self-destruct after a short time. Now, users can send messages to each other, which will also vanish once the conversation is over. The addition of a messaging function makes perfect sense for Snapchat and will put it in direct competition with WhatsApp, Hangouts and other messaging apps.
The fact that chats vanish once the conversation ends will certainly appeal to those users who want to keep their conversations private. The ephemeral quality of Snapchat messages also gives a different sense of importance to the conversations. Snapchat's self-destruct feature brings spy novels and James Bond movies to mind. It's something that none of the other mainstream messaging apps have.
If you want to have a top-secret conversation and leave no trace afterwards, Snapchat is the place to go.
Snapchat also added a video calling feature to the app, making it a triple threat app. Not only can you send self-destructing videos, pictures and chats on Snapchat, you can also make video calls. It's now an all-in-one messaging and video-calling app with a handy self-destruct button. Once you download the new version of Snapchat, there's no need to use WhatsApp, Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, Skype or Facetime anymore.
Although this could be bad news for other messaging apps, it's great news for Snapchat. With the addition of these two new features, Snapchat is now poised to be the perfect rival for Facetime, WhatsApp, Skype and other messaging services. It's already quite popular with the two most coveted groups of mobile app users: teenagers and college students. Now that it's added video calls and self-destructing chats, Snapchat is sure to attract more users.
Although the numbers have never been confirmed, it's believed that Snapchat already has 30 million monthly active users. Snapchat reportedly received offers for purchase from Google and Facebook, but it seems that its founders want to keep it for now. Perhaps they are holding out for a higher premium. If these new features are as successful as they should be, Snapchat might just fetch a higher price than WhatsApp.
