Snapchat's latest update is a departure from its baseline

May 9, 2017 20:00 GMT  ·  By

Snapchat is changing things up by reorganizing the creative tools layout, adding a Magic Eraser and, most importantly, adding a new setting to the timer - infinity. 

What does this mean? Well, it means that your snaps will no longer be quite as quick to disappear.

"We've all felt the frustration of not being able to fully enjoy a snap - even after replaying it - and we wanted to give you the option of allowing the recipient to enjoy your Snap as long as they'd like. After your friend finishes viewing the Snap and taps to close it, it will delete as usual," the company said in an announcement posted on Tuesday.

The company has further announced that there's a new Loop tool for videos. This will allow you to choose whether your Snap plays once only or loops until your friend is ready to view the next Snap.

"These changes allow us to continue evolving the Snapchat service and provide a foundation for introducing even more creative tools for making fun Snaps," the company added.

Self-destructing feature is still there

Overall, this is a rather odd update for Snapchat. The very base the app was built on was the idea that you could send images that would self-destruct moments after they've been viewed. With this new addition, the self-destructing feature is still there, but the time limit is removed, which takes the tool more towards other messaging apps out there.

The content users shared could be set to ten seconds or added to a daily "story" which refreshes every 24 hours. This particular story feature was "borrowed" by folks over at Facebook for Messenger, which made the tech company a target for all the "best" the Internet has to offer.

Snapchat has about 160 million daily active users across the globe and Snap Inc, the company behind the popular tool, has recently had its IPO.