Snapchat is expanding to desktops after operating only on mobile devices for more than a decade.
The parent company of the well-known photo and messaging app, Snap, announced on Monday that it is launching Snapchat for Web, which enables users to message and video call their friends from their computers.
It’s an important shift for a business that previously served as little more than a landing page for its website, attracting youthful consumers with a viral photo-sharing app for mobile phones. Snap may be acknowledging that its customers have matured and that many of them now work on large displays at home or in the workplace by switching to desktop computers.
Along with Snapchat+ subscribers in the US, UK, and Canada, only users from Australia and New Zealand will initially have access to Snapchat’s new desktop version. In June, Snap introduced Snapchat+, a $3.99 monthly subscription that offers users access to more sophisticated features like customising the appearance of their app icon and seeing who has viewed their content.
The web version of the mobile app will be a more condensed version, focusing mostly on the messaging component of the app rather than its Stories feature.
Messages and any Snaps users view on their desktop PCs will be deleted immediately after viewing, much like the core Snap programme.
In the future, Snap plans to add more app features to the desktop version, including the ability for users to add Lenses to their video calls to spice them up. Currently, users must use the Chrome browser to view Snapchat for Web, but the firm announced that it would soon support other browsers and may eventually develop a desktop application.
On Thursday, Snap will present second-quarter financial results following a difficult first half of the year for the company. A day after the business indicated it would miss its guidance, Snap’s stock fell 43% in May, and it has fallen over 70% this year.
Snap stated in May that “Since we issued guidance on April 21, 2022, the macroeconomic environment has deteriorated further and faster than anticipated.”