New Snapchat Update Means You Can Share Your Snaps With People Outside The App

Who doesn't love Snapchat? It's a fun little app that allows you to put little dog ears on yourself, or have freakishly large elf eyes - what's not to love?

It has 178 million daily users and is one of the world's biggest camera apps (admittedly, these figures are from Snapchat) with more than 3.5 billion Snaps taken every day. It's so popular that it is redefining the word 'exposure' within the world of photography.

Get your mind out of the gutter - I meant because it's new 'Snap Map' is exposing unfaithful partners by showing exactly the location of those that you share pictures with. Well, ok.

Now Snapchat are changing the rules of the game by letting users share Stories created on the app with other people outside the app for the first time.

You will be able to share your Snapchat Stories via email, text, or even another social media platform.

Stories are usually just photos and videos taken over the course of 24 hours, but shared Stories will be available to those without the app on a new media player hosted on the Snapchat website for up to 30 days.

Once you've installed the new update, you will be able to send Official Stories, Our Stories, and Search Stories to non-Snapchatters with the new feature.

If you're not sure what any of those things are, Snapchat explains: "Official Stories help Snapchatters discover and identify interesting Stories more easily. If a Snapchatter has an Official Story, their name will appear under an Official Stories header when you search for them in the Add Friends screen. An emoji will also appear next to their name, so you know they're the real deal.

"Our Stories make you feel like you're at an event, festival or celebration anywhere in the world and are hand-curated or automatically created by Team Snapchat. You can find Our Stories by swiping left to the Discover screen and tapping on the Our Story you'd like to watch, or by using search.

"Search Stories are another way to discover user generated Snaps on Snapchat. Stories that appear in Search typically appear in the order of what's relevant to you, trending, or happening nearby.

"You can also search keywords in Search to see Snaps from the community. Search Stories are algorithmically generated so you can find Stories on just about anything on Snapchat."

Snapchat updated in November last year and some users complained that the app became too complicated, and that they couldn't find some of their favourite features.

First world problems, people. If finding your favourite Snapchat filter is the worst thing that happens to you today, it has been a good day.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Phones and Gadgets, Social Media, Snapchat, Technology

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is a freelance journalist and LADbible contributor. He graduated from University of London with a BA in Philosophy before studying for a Masters in Journalism at the University of Salford. He has previously written for the M.E.N Group as well as working for several top professional sports clubs. Contact him on [email protected]

@TPWagwim