Snapchat Just Got 2 WILD Updates That Personalize the App for You
Snapchat is constantly updating itself. And even though lots of people thought that the last update, Memories, would kill the social network, it is still chugging along — and people seem to be loving the change. But the latest two updates to Snapchat seem to focus on how users appear — or don’t.
Back in March, Snapchat bought Bitmoji — yes, your fave personal cartoon emoji app that makes your pals giggle. So now, Bitmoji can be fully integrated with Snapchat, and you can send each other your Bitmoji via chat or use them as stickers on top of snaps. To set up the feature, just link your two accounts in Snapchat settings, then send everybody you know a picture of your face with a cartoon rendering of your face over it.
And, almost on the complete other end of the spectrum, Snapchat was just issued a patent for “automated privacy protection” from the US Patent Office. The patent basically uses facial recognition technology to protect privacy. After the technology scans an image for faces, it could either refuse to share the image without permission from everyone in it or blur out the faces to protect the subjects. This makes Snapchat one of the first companies to use this technology for more online privacy, a welcome change for many.
Unlike Bitmoji, Snapchat’s facial recognition feature is just a patent at this point, so who knows if/when it will ever become reality. But one thing’s for certain: The way we look on Snapchat is definitely changing. And quickly.
What do you think of Snapchat’s latest updates? Let us know @BritandCo!
(h/t TechCrunch; photo via Snapchat)