Snapchat

Today alongside big updates to the Snapchat app, Snap unveiled its newest AR Spectacles and launched the Snap OS software platform. These product announcements sought to excite the development community. Joining Snap’s developer program is going to cost you though: $99 per month, with a 1-year commitment. Did we mention that’s the only way to get the new Spectacles?

Snap announced a lot of big changes coming to the Snapchat app starting today. There’s a major app redesign rolling out, plus new AI features including a lens that shows you an old-aged version of yourself.

Refurbished iPhones can be bought from various sellers, and they’re also used for AppleCare device replacements. In normal circumstances, a device’s prior owner should have no impact on your experience with a refurbished iPhone. But that’s not always the case. As one user has outlined, it’s possible for a prior owner’s social media ban to carry over and impact a new device owner. And currently, there’s no known fix.

Snapchat was launched for iOS in 2011, but since then the app has only had iPhone support. iPad users, on the other hand, could only run the iPhone app with huge black borders around it. 13 years later, Snapchat is finally introducing native support for the iPad.

Today, Snap announced a host of feature updates coming to Snapchat that are sure to make its users happy. The two standout improvements center around messaging: editable messages and emoji reactions. These join a handful of service-wide enhancements that are driven by Snap’s AI efforts, such as AI reminders, creating custom Bitmoji looks, and more.

The Senate hearing on social media saw Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologise to families who hold social media responsible for children who harmed themselves, including some who took their own lives.

It also saw some bizarre racism by one senator who apparently can’t tell the difference between Singapore and China …

The timing of Meta’s announcement of new teen safety measures earlier this week likely wasn’t coincidental: Mark Zuckerberg and other social media CEOs are set to testify to Congress on the topic.

Facebook’s founder will be joined by the chief execs of TikTok, Snap, Discord and X as Congress seeks to determine whether the companies are doing enough to protect teens from harm …

A first-of-its-kind law restricting social media use by children has been challenged by an industry group representing TikTok, Meta, X, and Snap.

The NetChoice trade group argues that the law introduced by Utah, and which other states plan to emulate, is unconstitutional …

Snapchat’s My AI feature is facing the prospect of a ban in the UK, over concerns that it may be putting the privacy of children at risk.

It follows separate user outrage at the ChatGPT integration being pinned to the top of their chats, and a mix of concern and amusement when the chatbot went rogue …

Earlier this year, Snapchat added integration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT to let users get insights from an AI directly from the app. In another AI-related move, Snapchat is now rolling out a new “Dreams” feature that lets users generate photos using artificial intelligence.

After launching a premium version of its platform, Snapchat reported a cool one million subscribers in just six weeks last summer. A year later, Snap is sharing a new milestone.

Snap has heard the feedback about its not-always-welcome My AI feature and found the solution: ads!

Pinning SnapchatGPT to the top of everyone’s chat list recently became a magnet for 1-star reviews in the App Store. In response, Snapchat is stuffing ads in My AI for the users who actually like the new feature.

Last week, Snapchat announced that it was expanding the availability of its My AI assistant to all users after first making it available only to premium subscribers. As it turns out, users aren’t particularly thrilled with this change, primarily because Snapchat automatically pins the “My AI” conversation bot to the top of their chat feed.

Snapchat users are so unhappy with this change that they’re taking to the App Store to leave a deluge of 1-star reviews for the app…

Snapchat has announced a number of updates coming soon to its iPhone app. As part of its Snap Summit event today, the company revealed that it will roll out its “My AI” chatbot to all users, add new features to Snapchat Stories, and much more.

Snapchat is the latest app to bring OpenAI’s ChatGPT experience to its (paid) users. The platform calls the integration “My AI” and pitches it to get birthday gift ideas, plan trips, suggest recipes, and more inside Snapchat. However, it has a few warnings too.