Snapchat 6.0 Goes Beyond Ephemeral Snaps And Into Longer-Lasting Stories
October 3, 2013
Snapchat has just received an update that introduces a "surprise" new feature for the popular photo- and video-sharing app: Stories.
Stories constitutes a departure from Snapchat's core Snaps feature, which allows users to see received photos and videos, aka "snaps," for mere seconds before they're hidden from view, never to be seen again.
It's worth noting, though, that a Snapchat story is essentially a series of snaps, specifically those taken within the last 24 hours. As The Verge explains in an in-depth piece about the new feature, a Snapchat story is …
… a rolling compilation of snaps from the last 24 hours that your friends can see. You create your Story as you go about your day by tapping "My Story" above the friends you want to send a snap to. Or, you can tap a new shortcut button in the app's camera screen to instantly post a snap to your Story. But unlike conventional snaps, Stories don't disappear in a puff of ephemeral smoke after you've watched them. You can watch a friend’s (or your own) Story over and over.If you can't see the video embedded above, please click here. You can now create Snapchat stories, which you can set to to be visible to everyone or to your friends only, in the latest version of the app, Snapchat 6.0. Snapchat 6.0 is available now in the App Store for free. The app is optimized for iPhone and iPod touch running iOS 5.0 or later. While I've never been enough of a fan of the app to use it beyond ephemeral (as it were) testing purposes, Snapchat has apparently become so popular that users have been sending around 350 million snaps every day. If you're among these users, you might also find the idea of Snapchat stories to your liking. [gallery link="file" order="DESC"]