Social media has risen to be a mainstay of today’s society. There are many popular apps used for social networking such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. These apps appeal to a large variety of people. One app specifically popular with teens is Snapchat.

Snapchat is a prospering messaging app that lets users exchange pictures and videos that instantly disappear after they are viewed. It is advertised as a “new type o camera” because the essential function is to take a picture or video and add filters, lenses or other effects and share them with friends. 

More than two million snapchats are sent each minute. Since Snapchat is such a popular app and has over 238 million active users each day, there are many maintenance issues which require updates to improve the quality of the app. The newest update includes many new and exciting features like a new navigation tool called an action bar. It’s a new element said to provide ”top-level navigation” the moment you open Snapchat. It’s supposed to change based on what you’re doing or watching as well. 

Another popular feature on Snapchat called Snap Map is also getting an update that will add Places. These make it easier to find spots that are popular around the globe. This update will include snaps from the location, the address, hours of operation and reviews from TripAdvisor and Foursquare. Starting soon in the U.S., you’ll also be able to order food at Places through Postmates, DoorDash and Uber Eats. 

Our Story is another feature included on Snapchat where users can submit their snaps and videos about the events happening around them and it allows other users to see it globally. They are categorized by the Snapchat team to capture the local event. Now there’s a new way to use a topic sticker or submit your snap to a community topic. You’ll also be able to browse topic pages to explore more snaps. Snapchat is also allowing their users to communicate with the Snap Stars they’re following using story replies. These creators and celebrities can then turn your story replies into stickers and add them to their stories for things like question-and-answer sessions. 

Snapchat is also updating Lens Studio with new features such as SnapML. SnapML lets any developer use their own machine learning models to power lenses. Snap said it is partnering with Wannaby, Prisma, CV2020 and others on the first SnapML creations. Snapchat users can press and hold on the camera screen to unlock relevant lenses based on what the camera sees. To improve this feature, Snap has partnered with PlantSnap so the Snapchat camera can identify 90 percent of all known plants and trees. It’s also partnering with Dog Scanner, allowing the camera to recognize almost 400 breeds.

Later in the year, Snapchat will add a nutrition scanner, which provides a rating on the quality of ingredients in many packaged foods. Snapchat also has a section on the app where you can watch short-form original shows. Snap is announcing new partnerships designed to talk up the amount of informative and entertaining content available to watch in the discover section. Disney, ESPN, NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS, the NBA and the NFL have all entered new multi-year deals with Snap that will result in fresh shows and original programming for Discover. 

Snap is also introducing a new feature to support users struggling with their own wellbeing. A new feature called Headspace will give Snapchat users access to Headspace’s meditations and mindfulness practices. Snap is also updating the reporting tool so users can message the Crisis Text Line or talk to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. with these new updates, Snapchat is topping every social networking app in the world and is sure to maintain that spot at number one.