In the past couple of years, Facebook-owned platforms have been looking for a way to take down photo-messaging platform Snapchat, and it found that the best way to do this was to almost directly copy some of its more prominent features, such as Stories. However, in an unlikely twist, Snapchat has now copied one of Instagram’s latest features.
The photo-messaging platform has recently launched a feature that would allow users to add Giphy animation stickers to their snaps, which is similar to a feature that was added to Instagram Stories a couple of weeks ago.
Giphy is a small animation similar to GIFs that can give users a way to add motion and bring their snaps to life. Instagram added this feature after months of testing and limited rollouts at the back end of January. It allowed users to select hundreds of thousands of animated stickers to add to images and videos posted to their own storyboards.
Now, Snapchat has added a similar function to its app. Furthermore, it will be adding another feature called Tabs, Which will allow users to organise the Stories they wish to see. This feature will be integrated with both the Discover and Friends tabs, which are used to view Stories, group chats, and media subscriptions.
To add a GIF to your Snapchat, tap the sticker icon on the right hand side menu, and search for the animation you wish to add to your snap. These GIFs can be scaled to be bigger or smaller at the user’s discretion by pinching the image and zooming in or out with your finger. Multiple GIFs can be added to a single snap.
Furthermore, in a similar way to Instagram, users can pin a sticker to a particular object within the snap or video by pressing and holding the animation to a particular spot. The sticker will then rotate, move, or scale in accordance to whatever the object it is pinned to does within the video.
This continues with Snapchat’s recent renovation, as it introduced a major update last month that saw changes to both visual and functional elements of the app. This did not go down well with the majority of users who called for the app to revert back to the previous design.
Giphy stickers are available for use straightaway, with the Tab function set to roll out on both Android and iOS devices in the near future.
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