(Reuters)
Snapchat, the mobile app best known for its self-destructing photo messages, is adding a new feature called Chat that will let people hold regular text and live-video conversations with each other.
Swipe right on a friend’s name in your Snapchat inbox to start chatting. When you leave the chat screen, messages viewed by both you and your friend will be cleared – but either of you can always tap or screenshot to save anything you’d like to keep (addresses, to-do lists, etc.)!
We let you know when a friend is Here in your Chat so that you can give each other your full attention. And if you’re both Here, simply press and hold to share live video – and Chat face-to-face!
Snapchat’s foray into live video — much like Apple's and Google's Hangouts — and text chats is just the latest example of companies trying to morph from being masters of niche services to being everything for everybody.
Snapchat rose to fame by specializing in a unique feature — the Mission: Impossible-esque self-deleting message, encouraging selfies, silly messages and explicit content. It eventually learned people could just screenshot those ephemeral photos, neutering the specialty, and it watched a more traditional messaging app sell to Facebook for $19 billion.
Click here to read the full report on The Wall Street Journal.
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