Snapchat is (finally) getting a true web version

Snap introduces a web version worthy of the Snapchat name. Basic text messaging and video calling features are present. Privacy is not forgotten.

The messaging and video features of Snapchat are no longer limited to the mobile app. More than 10 years after launching the first Snapchat app, the company is introducing Snapchat for Web, a new web version of its browser-based service.

Snap introduces a web version worthy of the Snapchat name

Snapchat+ subscribers will first have access to this new web app, but it will eventually become available to everyone. It will initially support video calls and text chats, but Snap is already planning to add augmented reality lenses and the ability to send photo and video snaps “soon.”

Snap has also tried to integrate some of its privacy features into this web version. For example, screenshots will be blocked where possible. This applies, for example, to pictures taken using common keyboard shortcuts. The company has also added a “privacy screen”that blocks the content of a user’s discussions if the user clicks in another window.

This isn’t the first time Snap has used desktop and/or browser features. So the company has made some of its Stories posts available to view in a web browser, and its augmented reality effects have arrived on the desktop with the Snap Camera app. But in any case, this is the first time Snapchat’s core messaging features will be available to users outside of the mobile app.

Basic text messaging and video calling features are present.

This change should help Snapchat increase the engagement of its most loyal users. A Snap spokesperson said that video calls have become very popular among Snapchat users in recent years, and a decent desktop might be more suitable for longer video calls. It could also help Snap replicate the experience offered by apps like Discord, where young people use chat rooms to chat with friends while doing other online activities.

It should be noted that there are no ads or other revenue-generating features in Snapchat for Web, although a spokesperson has previously hinted that the company may add other aspects of the service’s browser mobile app to this release. Unless, of course, there is a real demand for it.