Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Here are all the new products Snap launched at its first partner conference

Snapchat games, new shows, and more augmented reality.

A Snapchat Ferris wheel from Cannes, France.
A Snapchat Ferris wheel from Cannes, France.
A Snapchat Ferris wheel was not one of the new Snap products launched today.
Kurt Wagner / Recode

Snap held its first-ever “Partner Summit” on Thursday — the Snap equivalent of the larger, more established developer conferences held by tech giants like Facebook (F8), Google (Google I/O), and Apple (WWDC) each year.

The point of the event was to unveil new products — some for users, some for developers — and encourage potential partners to build features or products that work with the Snapchat app. The event was very on-brand for Snap, which likes to consider itself and its product a “fun” way to communicate. Hosted at an LA studio lot in West Hollywood, the event featured a number of playful product announcements, new mobile games, and lots of augmented reality. There was even a Snapchat ghost mascot walking around to take pictures with attendees.

One of the most important announcements, at least from a business perspective, came in the form of Snap’s new ad network, called Snap Audience Network. The plan is for Snap to sell ads that will appear inside other companies’ apps, a move that will help Snap advertisers reach a larger group of people than just those who use Snapchat, and theoretically help Snap grow its business despite the fact its own user base is no longer growing.

Snap Audience Network wasn’t the only announcement, though. Here’s what else the company unveiled on Thursday.

Snap is building Stories for other apps

Snap invented Stories, the ephemeral photo and video montages that Facebook copied into all of its apps. The format took off and is a major part of Facebook’s future. Snap clearly believes Stories will be a popular sharing format for other apps as well. On Thursday, it announced App Stories, which will let people share the photos and videos they take from the Snapchat in-app camera to a Stories feature built into other apps, like Tinder and Houseparty.

In other words, Tinder thinks Stories is a cool way for its users to share photos and videos about their life, but doesn’t want to build that product itself. So Snap is building it for them; once people link their respective accounts, they can share Stories from Snapchat’s app directly to Tinder’s.

Snapchat clearly sees value in providing the camera software and technology to create Stories inside other apps. If Stories take off inside Tinder, for example, it should create some dependence on Snapchat and its camera product. Perhaps more importantly, these partnerships give Snap more real estate outside of its own app to better compete with Facebook’s stable of Stories products that have grown much bigger, much faster, than Snapchat’s original version.

Snapchat is launching games

Snap unveiled a new game that was built in-house, called Bitmoji Party, which lets users play mini competitions against one another to earn things like coins and virtual prizes. People can play the game as their Bitmoji avatar, which means you get to play the game as a cartoon version of yourself.

Snap also announced new games from partners like Zynga and ZeptoLabs. The games are meant to be multi-player, and you can launch them from inside a conversation thread. Two potential benefits of adding games to user chats: People may spend more time inside the app, and more time usually means they see more ads (which means more revenue for Snap). Plus, games will give Snap even more ad inventory. Some of the games will ask users to watch a six-second ad in exchange for special features or bonuses, like coins or power-ups. If games take off — a big if — it could lead to more revenue.

More augmented reality features that aren’t face filters

Snap is best known for its wacky face filters, which let users turn their selfies into a zombie or a puppy. But Snap has built other augmented reality features that aren’t face filters, and added a few more on Thursday. Developers can now create AR features for a user’s full body or their hands, not just their face. They can also build AR filters for pets, like a dog or cat.

Snap also announced a product called “Landmarks” — imagine a face filter, but for iconic landmarks around the world, like the Eiffel Tower. It’s tough to argue that these kinds of playful AR elements provide a huge business boon, but they play into Snap’s reputation as a playful product.

More original video content

Snap launched a slate of original shows last fall for its Discover content section. The 3- to 5-minute shows were exclusive to Snapchat, and each series included a number of episodes. The arrangement was successful enough that Snap has decided to do that again. It announced eight new original shows on Thursday, including a comedy show, a zombie apocalypse show, and a docu-series about race in America. Two of the shows are produced by Indigo, a joint venture between Snap and NBC. Other partners include Dakota Pictures and Insurrection Media.

In some cases, Snap is funding the shows. In other cases, the show is paid for by media partners. In both instances, the shows will include ads, and the revenue split for those ads depends on who’s footing the bill when it comes to production costs.

The ultimate goal, again: Create more reasons for people to spend time inside Snapchat’s app. If people come to Snapchat to message their friends but stick around to watch some shows (and also watch some ads), Snap will be happy.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Technology
The case for AI realismThe case for AI realism
Technology

AI isn’t going to be the end of the world — no matter what this documentary sometimes argues.

By Shayna Korol
Politics
OpenAI’s oddly socialist, wildly hypocritical new economic agendaOpenAI’s oddly socialist, wildly hypocritical new economic agenda
Politics

The AI company released a set of highly progressive policy ideas. There’s just one small problem.

By Eric Levitz
Future Perfect
Human bodies aren’t ready to travel to Mars. Space medicine can help.Human bodies aren’t ready to travel to Mars. Space medicine can help.
Future Perfect

Protecting astronauts in space — and maybe even Mars — will help transform health on Earth.

By Shayna Korol
Podcasts
The importance of space toilets, explainedThe importance of space toilets, explained
Podcast
Podcasts

Houston, we have a plumbing problem.

By Peter Balonon-Rosen and Sean Rameswaram
Technology
What happened when they installed ChatGPT on a nuclear supercomputerWhat happened when they installed ChatGPT on a nuclear supercomputer
Technology

How they’re using AI at the lab that created the atom bomb.

By Joshua Keating
Future Perfect
Humanity’s return to the moon is a deeply religious missionHumanity’s return to the moon is a deeply religious mission
Future Perfect

Space barons like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk don’t seem religious. But their quest to colonize outer space is.

By Sigal Samuel