Today’s Snapchat update rolls out a few new features that seem poised to change the platform in a big way. Most importantly, Snapchat’s infamous time limits — the at-most ten-second period your friends are given to hastily watch, and maybe screenshot, a snap before it vanishes — are now optional.
Users can choose to send snaps without a time limit by tapping the infinity symbol that now appears as a time option. When a user receives an infinite snap, they’ll be able to watch it for as long as they want, provided they don’t tap out of the snap. Once a snap, even an infinite one, is closed, it’s still gone forever. (This new tool is mostly good for sending snaps to individual accounts, since Snapchat Stories already lets users watch as many times as they’d like within a 24-hour period.) It’s a handy feature for those busy snaps where ten seconds isn’t enough time to study all the detail, and even more handy for making sure you get that all-important screenshot.
The infinite snaps tie in nicely with another new feature: looping videos. Users will be able to tap a looping icon after filming a video, which will make the video — both in personal snaps and Snapchat Stories — play on repeat until a user exits the snap. (Does this sound a little like Vine? Sure. Do I not care because I really miss Vine and all the good gags that come with ever-cycling videos? You bet.)
Other changes to the app include a magic eraser ( a Photoshop-esque tool that will let users remove unwanted objects from images) and the ability to draw with emoji. Instead of tracing lines in a single color, users can now draw lines of stars or hearts. The creative toolbar — the sticker, emoji, text, and coloring icons — is also moving from a horizontal line at the top of the screen to a vertical toolbar along the right-hand side of the screen. Snapchat is rolling out these new features globally today, so be sure to update your app if you want to start using them.
