The latest update for Snapchat will allow users to search for Snapchat Stories, Snap announced. The Los Angeles-based social media giant said the new Snapchat feature initially started rolling out “in select cities” throughout the United States a few days back but promised that the functionality will be available worldwide in the near future. The company didn’t provide a specific time frame to accompany that announcement, so it’s currently unclear for how long will the feature be in testing, but more information on the matter will likely be available soon.
As for the feature itself, it works in a relatively simple manner. Users who are able to access the new functionality can search for Stories using the same Universal Search bar that Snap started rolling out to Android users earlier this year. Stories can be searched by usernames, keywords, and locations, just like all of the other content on Snapchat. The technology powering this feature partially bases its recommendations on recent trends and your location, meaning the tool itself might also be useful for following topical content in one’s vicinity, though it was primarily designed to help users discover new and interesting content. The new feature is being distributed as a client-side Snapchat update, meaning you’ll have to download the latest version of the app from the Google Play Store before you’re able to use it. You can check whether the new Snapchat build is available in your country by following the link below. Likewise, refer to the video beneath this writing to see how searching for Snapchat Stories works in practice.
The addition of this feature likely won’t hurt Snapchat’s user engagement rates that have been traditionally high compared to the platform’s competitors despite dwindling a bit in recent months, as previous reports suggested. While Snap is currently in the process of rebranding itself as “a camera company” with a larger focus on hardware, the Los Angeles-based firm is still investing in its popular social app that continues to be its main source of revenue. Time will tell whether that approach will pay off, but an update on Snap’s business efforts is bound to follow shortly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyqQtm4wETA