Snapchat rolls out new messaging, video call features

YouTube/Snapchat

Snapchat rolls out new messaging, video call features
(Image credit: YouTube/Snapchat)

You can now send questionable texts in addition to your naughty photos on Snapchat. The ephemeral photo-sharing app is rolling out an update today that adds texting and video call functions, putting it in direct competition with mobile messaging apps like WhatsApp. However, in keeping with Snapchat's ethos, the text messages disappear after a certain amount of time.

Company co-founder Evan Spiegel, who rebuffed a $3 billion offer from Facebook a few months ago, told The New York Times that the "goal has always been to move beyond messaging." These functions should do just that while maintaining customer loyalty to the app.

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Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.