According to a new report from TechCrunch, Snapchat is planning the launch of its first developer platform, referred to as Snapkit. The platform would allow other applications to offer a “Login with Snapchat” option, as well as access key Snapchat features…
The report, citing people familiar with Snap’s discussions with developers, explains that Snapkit’s login feature would allow users to signup for other services using their Snapchat login, as opposed to creating a new login.
Allowing users to login with Snapchat credentials on other platforms would give users stronger ties to the platform, thus making it harder to leave. In addition, it could prove as a better option than logging in with a service like Facebook, especially in light of recent data scandals.
Furthermore, Snapkit’s login feature would allow users to port their Bitmoji avatar to other platforms. Snapchat paid $64.2 million for Bitmoji’s parent company Bitstrips in 2016, so it would make sense to try and attract as many users to the Bitmoji platform as possible.
Perhaps most notably, however, Snapchat is said to be working on a way for developers to integrate its AR camera into other applications:
Snapchat is also working on a way for developers to integrate its editing tool-laden and AR-equipped camera into their own apps. Instead of having to reinvent the wheel if they want to permit visual sharing and inevitably building a poor knockoff, apps could just add Snapchat’s polished camera.
The idea is the photos and videos shot with the camera could then be used in that app as well as shared back to Snapchat. Similar to Facebook and Instagram Stories opening up to posts from third-parties, this could inject fresh forms of content into Snapchat at a time when usage is slipping.
Snapchat has faced relentless competition from Facebook-owned Instagram, but with newfound skepticism of Facebook’s handling of user data, Snap has the ability to catch up and regain some of the ground it has lost.
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