While most messaging activities happen on mobile, there are times when users are actually on their PCs.
This is why Snap, the company behind Snapchat, is introducing 'Snapchat for Web' to allow users to send snaps and chat with friends via video calls all from their desktops. Snapchat for Web also allows users to take advantage of messaging features available on mobile, including chat reactions.
To access Snapchat for Web, users need to head to web.snapchat.com and login with their Snapchat username and password.
From there, they will be prompted to complete two-step verification on their phone. Once logged in, users can continue their conversations from where they left on mobile.
In addition, the web experience includes a privacy screen that hides the Snapchat window if users navigate away.
While on Snapchat for Web, users' Bitmoji will appear in chats with a laptop to indicate to others that users are accessing the chat via Snapchat for Web.
Snapchat for Web marks the first time the company made its service available beyond smartphones.
Despite still seeing itself as a mobile-first platform, Snap said that it decided that it was time to bring Snapchat’s core features to the web after listening to feedback from users.
Though Snapchat was created as a visual-first messaging app, its head of messaging product, Nathan Boyd, said that Snapchat for Web makes sense because its users are using desktop computers more frequently.
Snapchat for Web gives users extra space to chat and call in the same window,.
With people using computers more during the pandemic, and with its young users about to experience a new school year, Boyd said Snap wants to bring more of its products to web over time.
Boyd said that 100 million people call each other on Snapchat every month, spending an average of more than 30 minutes a day, and that chatting is typically the last thing people do before closing the app.
"We are always looking for ways to meet our community where they are,” he said in an interview. “It just felt like something that was an unmet opportunity."
"With so many in our community spending more time online, whether it is for remote learning or working, streaming or just plain browsing – we saw a huge opportunity to make it easier for our community to stay connected throughout their day, and we cannot wait to bring our favorite fundamental Snapchat capabilities to the web," the company noted.
Staying true to its nature, messages that are sent via Snapchat for Web will be deleted automatically after 24 hours.
Snap also said that Snapchat for Web can prevent people from taking screenshots. The thing is, claims like this is kind of useless, since anyone can still take a picture of the screen from their phone.
Initially, Snapchat for Web is made exclusively for Snapchat+ subscribers, and it’s the first major feature launch since Snap announced its paid tier in June 2022.
For starters, subscribers in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand get access first.
Snap said that Snapchat for Web is compatible with Google’s Chrome browser and not Apple’s Safari.
Snapchat for Web makes Snapchat in competition with Discord and Meta’s WhatsApp, which is also available on desktop.
It also makes itself a better competitor to TikTok and Instagram, both of which can be accessed via the web and offer subscriptions to some extent.
Snapchat for Web signals that Snap is taking its paid tier seriously as an additional way to make money.
After all, Snap is under pressure like never before to monetize its 332 million daily active users.