Few years back, mobile phones only had the capability of making voice calls and sending text messages. Now, mobile phones (smartphones) have the capability of performing the functions or a personal computer and more. At the same time, mobile apps have grown tremendously on Google Play and Apple Store. However, only handful mobile apps stood out and are being used by millions of users around the world. Snapchat has proven to be probably the most popular mobile app in the market today for sending photos and pictures, both of which will self destruct after a few seconds of viewing.
Around the same time Facebook acquired Instagram for $100 million, Facebook also offered to buy Snapchat for $3 billion in which the offer was turned down. Many people thought Evan Speigel, the 23-year-old CEO of Snapchat should have agreed to the deal. However, Snapchat now worth five times the initial offer.
The app continues growing mostly among teens and young adults whom Snapchat has been part of their daily lives. While it is fun to share special moments with others, mobile apps usage have become more addictive than coffee drinking for most people.
Snapchat started with just the features of sending self destructing photos and videos, then introduced stories and private messaging features. New features kept getting added over the course of the past few years.
The feature stories was first introduced by Snapchat but recently Instagram just added a similar feature called also “stories”.
Despite the fact that some third-party add-on apps enabled sharing of existing pictures on Snapchat as instant snaps. It is believed recent updates of Snapchat app restricted third-party apps from enabling users to upload existing photos. Since the last few updates of Snapchat introduced memories, Sncapchatters can share previously taken photos without need to install additional apps. However, there is difference between sharing instant photo or video snaps and memories.
Snapchat is currently bundled with the following features:
- Sharing instant snaps (pictures & videos)
- Messaging
- Daily stories (24-hour expiration period)
- Filters
- Sharing memories (photos & videos)
- Video calling
A one important feature worth noting is the “snap filters” which are fun to use and have gotten very popular. Best of all, many filters are location and events specific, making them much more interesting to use. In case you are bored and have plenty of free time, have fun testing different snap filters and try getting creative.
It appears that Instagram is imitating Snapchat and not the other way around. Even though, you may argue the feature “memories” introduced by Snapchat could be equivalent to the initial concept Instagram was founded upon which is sharing photos.
Comparing the features of Snapchat and Instagram, the primary features are somewhat identical. Perhaps Facebook took it personal when Snapchat rejected the offer back in 2014. Instead, used different terms to describe newly added features to Instagram; having similar functionality to Snapchat features.
