Snapchat is expanding past the mobile app and onto web browsers — well, one web browser, for now.
Snap announced today that the flagship video calls and chat features previously only accessible via its mobile Snapchat app will now be available on Google Chrome, with other browsers soon to come. The new web feature will first be rolling out to Snapchat+ subscribers in the U.S., UK, and Canada, and all Snapchatters across Australia, and New Zealand. Eventually, Snap does plan on making the web browser version available to all Snapchatters.
The web browser experience will be hosted at web.snapchat.com, and will carry over Snapchat's most beloved abilities from the app, including Bitmoji Chat Reactions, Chat Reply, and sending photo and video Snaps directly from the computer's webcam. Video chatting is also supported, and Lenses for video chats will be rolling out soon.
"We expect video calling to be used [most often] on the web browser version. It's used a lot on the mobile version, but given that when you're at your computer, you're generally there for pretty long periods of time. So you have more of the ability and intention to have longer synchronous conversations," a Snap spokesperson told Mashable.
The Snapchat for web browser experience also hosts a privacy screen that will hide the Snapchat window when users click off of it. The feature is automatically toggled on any time you click away from the tab you are using Snapchat on, and Snap will also prevent you from taking screenshots on web browser in an effort to preserve privacy further due to the bigger screens on computers.
With this launch, Snap is hoping to make enjoying the Snapchat experience even more seamless. Rather than doing the terribly arduous task of picking up your phone to check your Snaps when you've been using a computer, you can now just do it all on the same screen. Procrastination just got that much easier!
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