Snap Inc., the developers of the social media platform Snapchat, recently introduced three features to its Snap Kit that could help third-party developers improve the experiences they offer on their applications. These three new features are App Stories, Bitmoji Kit, and Creative Kit, and people will likely start seeing the integrations within the year.
App Stories allow third-party developers to use the camera engagement functionalities of Snapchat. This feature enables users of third-party apps to link their accounts with the social media platform, and create custom Stories within the Snapchat app that they can share with third-party platforms. Among the developers that take advantage of this functionality are Tinder, Houseparty, and Adventure Aide. Tinder users may now share their personal Snapchat Stories from the social media application directly to their Tinder profiles. On the other hand, users of Houseparty and Adventure Aide may take advantage of App Stories to keep up to date with other users and encourage people to sign up for adventures.
Another feature incorporated into the Snap Kit is the Bitmoji Kit. This feature allows third-party developers to use personalized avatars outside of Snapchat, and among the early adopters of this functionality are Fitbit and Venmo. Fitbit will display Bitmojis on the clock faces of its smartwatches, while Venmo will let people incorporate Bitmojis on payment notes.
The last major feature that Snap incorporated into its Snap Kit is the Creative Kit, which permits developers to design customized stickers and filters. With this feature, users of applications like Netflix, GoFundMe, VSCO, and others may share custom content along with videos, photographs, or articles from these apps directly to Snapchat. When apps take advantage of this feature, users will see a “Share to Snapchat” button in the software’s user interface.
Aside from incorporating Snapchat’s well-known features into third-party applications, Snap Inc., the developers of the social media app, is looking to help developers to monetize their software using the company’s own advertising platform, the Snapchat Audience Network, and mobile ad format, Snap Ads. Interestingly, this platform is only limited to users in the United States and currently integrated with iOS applications, although there is a possibility that the company may expand this feature to other locations and operating systems soon.
Background: Snapchat has been struggling on multiple fronts over the last few years. The social media platform has failed to turn up a profit and increase its user base, with larger sites like Instagram copying its key features and gaining more users. While the company is looking into improving its Android app in an effort to entice more Android users, Snap is also formulating other strategies to reverse its fortunes and boost its user numbers.
Impact: These new features are beneficial to both Snapchat and third-party developers. On the part of developers, less time will be devoted to coding and incorporating features that already exist on Snapchat’s platform, while for Snapchat, these integrations will advertise the platform to lapsed and new users, which should help increase its user base. Meanwhile, the integration of the Snapchat Audience Network to third-party apps should help boost the company’s revenue by selling ads not only on its own platform but also on other software.