One of the features announced during the virtual Snap Partner Summit 2020, is 'Snap Mini', which is mini-app that can be made by third-party developers.
Here and finally, Snap has started rolling out the first of the Minis, which are literally "bite-size" apps that are meant to run inside the main Snapchat app, inside an integrated chat window. In other words, they are designed to integrate within conversations, right inside the Snapchat main app.
Minis function as lightweight tools or services within Snapchat to give users access to various experiences.
Developers can create and submit their own Minis to the platform, initially through Snap's Early Access Program.
They should be built with HTML5, in order to make them easy to develop, compatible with all of users'devices regardless the platforms, and don't require any installation.
The first Mini, is 'Headspace'.
With the Mini, Snapchat users can access expert resources related to emotional and physical wellbeing, while also receiving daily meditations and tools. And because it's integrated within chats, friends can also participate in activities offered by Headspace, like attending mediation sessions together.
Snapchat said the aim is the help its users feel better and call on their friends for support.
"We have always been inspired by the power that real friendships have in supporting health and happiness. This is particularly true for our community. New research on Snapchatters’ experiences with mental health confirms what many studies have shown -- that friends are the first person they turn to when dealing with stress, anxiety, depression and many other emotional challenges," said Snap on its announcement.
"We believe Snapchat can play a unique role in empowering friends to help each other through these difficult moments."
Snapchat has also launched other Minis including; ‘Let’s Do It’ to help friends make a decision as a group, ‘Prediction Master’ which serves a wide range of timely questions and ‘Tembo’ which creates flashcard decks.
The company uses these four apps as examples to demonstrate how such apps can help Snapchatters with everyday problems, "whether it's planning a movie night, making a deck of flashcards, or coordinating which artists to see at Coachella, Minis can bring friends together for just about anything."
These experiences are located within Chat on the Snapchat app, or can be found via the Search bar.
By offering different experiences right inside the Snapchat app, Snap hopes that users can spend more time using its services.
The company hopes that through Mini, the app can expect a boost in engagement. This is needed as competitors like Instagram and TikTok have both become more increasingly popular than Snapchat, which only has around 229 million daily users.
With Minis, Snap is also looking forward for developers to cater to a whole set of new audience.
While having mini apps inside another app is something new to Snapchat, this is already a common experience in Asian apps like WeChat, which allows users to perform multiple tasks without having to ever leave the app. From messaging to buying products and paying for things, users can do all that inside one single app.
Other features Snap announced during its 2020 Partner Summit on 11 June, include new navigation tools that are coming to Snap, new Lenses and Augmented Reality (AR) experiences for Snapchat developers, creators, and users.