Snapchat now allows 16-person group video calls
Snapchat has
launched a feature that enables up to 16 people to take part in a live chat
together, using either video or just their voices.
The app's
members can also start tagging each other by username, using the @ symbol in
their posts.
The changes
will roll out over the coming weeks, the firm said.
Snapchat
came under fire for a recent redesign. A petition calling for the changes to be
reversed attracted more than 1.2 million signatures.
At the
weekend, Snapchat's first TV advert aired in the US. Observers noted that it
seemed to strike a family-friendly chord.
"Snapchat's
early growth has been largely been built on attracting a strong youth-centric
audience," commented Jack Kent from IHS Markit consultancy.
"To
grow its user numbers it needs to broaden its appeal to a wider audience.
"The
key challenge... is how to add older users without losing the cool factor that
helped fuel its early growth."
However,
news site The Verge claimed the ad had misfired.
"Snapchat
is the place where you trade dumb jokes with your friends, non-essential
thoughts, or show off the trashy nights you don't want preserved past a
five-second timer," wrote Megan Farokhmanesh.
"Its
feeble attempts to win over everyone either misunderstands its own product at
its core, or signals a desire to re-frame that product as a second-string
replacement for platforms that already exist."
Snapchat and
its parent company Snap have faced criticism in recent weeks.
In February
2018, $1.3bn (£1bn) was wiped off Snap's stock market value after reality TV
star Kylie Jenner tweeted that she no longer used the service.
And Snap had
to apologise after an ad appeared on its platform for a third-party game that
asked users if they would "rather slap Rihanna or punch Chris Brown".
Chris Brown
was convicted of assaulting the singer in 2009.
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