Snapchat testing status update feature to compete with Facebook, Instagram

Snapchat is testing new features in Australia. Image: AFP/Lionel Bonaventure via AFP Relaxnews

Social media reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong on Tuesday reported on three new features that are being tested on Snapchat; later, Snap Inc. confirmed to TechCrunch that what Wong had discovered is true: the platform is testing a new Snap Map user interface (UI) that enables Snapchat Status updates as well as Passport, a private list compiling all your previous Status locations.

Snapchat is testing new Snap Map UI, Status and Passport

Status: Check-in Locations with Bitmoji

Passport: Private History of Status, which users can delete singularly pic.twitter.com/IUPtxSjujR

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) April 2, 2019

Status

Status is a feature that lets users share their Bitmoji illustrating an activity like reading a book or playing video games to their Snap Map. This status update works similarly to Facebook’s check-in feature however, as TechCrunch notes, “Snapchat Status lets people convey their activity and intention so you can tell the difference between ‘I’m nearby but stuck with my parents’ and ‘I’m nearby and want to hang out!'” This adds a little extra flair to the platform that has not yet been copied by Instagram like the Stories feature was.

Passport

Passport, on the other hand, is a private feature for individual users. It serves as a diary that keeps track of all the places you have been to — those places that you’ve checked into with your Status — and who you were with at the time. Any and all places can be deleted from Passport if you choose.

According to the company spokesperson who spoke with TechCrunch, the new features are being tested by a “percentage of Snapchatters in Australia.” Whether or not the feature will roll out globally is still unknown. CE/JB

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