Photo messaging platform Snapchat is stepping up its war with rival network Facebook by making its most aggressive move to date in a bid to overhaul the network at a time when Facebook is facing many problems of its own.
Users of Snapchat will soon be able to use their account to log into other apps, as well as being able to export their Bitmoji characters and post information from other sources direct in the Snapchat app.
As a whole, the features are collectively known as the ‘Snap Kit’ and it will offer a set of tools that developers will be able to incorporate into their own platforms and apps. The feature has the aim of getting content onto Snapchat. It is similar to an earlier integration it had with ridesharing tool Uber, which let apps create personalised stickers, lenses and filters that users can then share on Snapchat. Another example of this will come from Postmates, a food delivery service in the US that will let its customers throw an ETA for their delivery onto a picture for their friends.
Bitmoji, which has quickly become one of Snapchat’s core features, will let users post images of their animated caricatures onto other apps, with dating platform Tinder already signed up as one of its launch partners.
However, the ‘login with Snapchat’ feature will see the company move into a completely different area to what it is used to. Large data driven internet firms such as Google and rival network Facebook already use this feature. Users who do take advantage of this feature will only be sharing their Snapchat username with the service, and possibly their Bitmoji. Other data from the app, such as friend lists will remain solely with Snapchat. Furthermore, if the login is not used for a period of 90 days, then the connection to the app is completely deleted.
In a statement about the feature, Vice-President of Snap, Jacob Andreou said that both security and privacy are at the centre of everything the company does and has been since its inception. Furthermore, Snap’s deputy general counsel, Katherine Tassi, stated that the company would be directly check any app that wishes to sign up to the Snap Kit, which will require a review and approval to be conducted by a human.
Snapchat and Facebook have been locked in a war together for a number of years now since Snapchat rejected a Facebook offer to acquire the company. Since then, Facebook has taken a lot of Snapchat features and incorporated them into their own apps and services. Snapchat chief executive Evan Spiegel even joked that Facebook should have considered copying the company’s data protection policies when discussing the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
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