Snapchat CEO Explains “The New Snapchat”

Get ready for a redesign to your beloved Snapchat app.

Snap Inc. co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel posted a video to YouTube on Wednesday explaining the newest update to the Snapchat user interface. Spiegel said they would be “separating the social from the media and reorganizing snapchat around your relationships to make it more personal.”

Now, when opening the app, users will be able to swipe left to see their friends’ posts and swipe right to see media companies, brands and influencers’ posts. This update will hopefully solve some of Snapchat’s design issues and user interface flaws.

Earlier this month, Spiegel admitted to some of Snapchat’s design issues, saying some features were “difficult to understand” and “hard to use,” particularly for new users. As with any app, design and functionality must work hand-in-hand. And if Speigel wants to grow Snapchat into new, untapped demographics, it will have to work on a more intuitive design.

Other updates include a new Friends page, which integrates a more sophisticated algorithm to determine the order your friends will be listed.

According to a Snapchat blog post, “It might take a little while for the Friends page to learn the best way to display your Friends, but the results are worth it!”

The Discover page was also revamped with your subscriptions listed at the top, followed by other Stories from publishers, creators, and the Snapchat community at-large.

“While the Stories on Discover are personalized algorithmically, our curators review and approve everything that gets promoted on the page. We believe that this balance of human review and machine personalization provides the best content experience on mobile,” stated Snapchat.

Change is never easy, but what do you think about the new upcoming updates?