What Is Snapchat Plus and the Features It Provides in 2024?

Recently, TikTok has garnered more media attention than Snapchat. However, Snapchat remains immensely popular among Generations Z and Alpha. A semi-annual Generation Z survey conducted by Piper Sandler in Spring 2022, which involved 7,100 U.S. teens, might have raised concerns at Snap’s headquarters.

The survey revealed that TikTok has taken the lead as the most favored social media platform, with 33% of respondents using it. Snapchat follows closely with a 31% share, while Instagram trails in third place at 22%. Recognizing the evolving landscape, Snapchat knows it needs to innovate to remain competitive, and Snapchat Plus might just be the answer.

What Is Snapchat Plus & How Does it Work?

Snapchat Plus or Snapchat+, is a premium version of the classic Snapchat app. It comes with a subscription fee but offers enhanced features. Snapchat is gradually rolling out Snapchat Plus to iPhone and Android users in various countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates, with plans to expand its availability in the future.

Snapchat believes that Snapchat+ will cater to their most loyal users by providing exclusive features and specialized support. Jacob Andreou, a senior product executive at Snapchat, mentioned that this premium offering is tailored for individuals who predominantly use Snapchat to connect with their closest friends.

Snapchat Plus offers enhanced features and tools, elevating social media marketing strategies by optimizing audience engagement and brand visibility.

More Than One Million People Started Using Snapchat Plus in Just Six Weeks

Snapchat has rolled out a special treat for its long-time fans by updating its subscription package, introducing fresh features for users. While the core functionality of the app remains intact, these new additions enhance the user experience.

These enhancements simplify the process for subscribers to engage with Snap Stars (verified Snapchat personalities) and prioritize responses to Stories. Users have the opportunity to test out Snapchat Plus features before their official release, all for a monthly fee of $3.99.

Also Read: What Does the Yellow Heart Emoji Mean on Snapchat? 

Snapchat Plus Features

The features of Snapchat Plus are not game-changing, but rather small improvements. They are made to help Snapchat’s biggest fans. The list of features may change as Snapchat tries out new experimental and pre-release features. But, if you pay a small amount of money each month, you can be one of Snapchat’s biggest fans and get to try out the new features of the app before other people do.

According to Jacob Andreou, features that involve only the user and don’t affect others will likely only be available to Plus members. However, features that involve interacting with other users will eventually be made available to everyone. The current special features are:

1. Ghost Trails

Ghost Trails lets you view the whereabouts in the past 24 hours of friends who share their location with you. You can only see the locations of your friends on the Snap Map if they choose to let you see their location and if they have Snapchat Plus in their country. To find a friend’s Ghost Trail, touch their Bitmoji avatar on the Map.

If you want to remove all traces of your location history, turn on Ghost Mode in your Snap Map Settings. Then, turn it off when you’re done. You can show your friends where you are for a limited time, and only the people you choose to share it with can see your route.

Ghost Trails might make some people not want to subscribe to Snapchat Plus. TechRadar cautioned that while the Snap Map can be useful for viewing Stories from places you plan to go on vacation, Ghost Trails takes it a step further. It puts a yellow line near your friends to show where they have been in the past day.

You can secretly watch where your friends or partners have been. Yes, they can change their settings to hide, but if they do that, they won’t get any advantage from having Ghost Trails, and you might have awkward conversations trying to understand why they’ve vanished.

2. Best Friends Forever

With the ‘Best Friends Forever’ feature, you can designate someone as your top friend. As the name suggests, you can select only one individual as your #1 Best Friend at any given moment. To set someone as your #1 Best Friend, simply press and hold their name either in Chat or on the ‘Send To’ screen. Rest assured, this designation is private; only you can see it, and it won’t impact your other friendships.

3. Story Rewatch Indicator

If you have Snapchat Plus, you will see the ???? emoji below Stories that one or more friends have watched again. The number next to the ???? emoji shows how many of your friends have watched your Story again, not how many times it has been watched in total. It doesn’t show which of your friends watched your Story again.

You can easily check how many of your friends watch your Snaps that you share on My Story, Shared Stories, and Private Stories. To check if someone has seen your posted story again, tap on it and then swipe upwards. To turn the Rewatch Indicator on or off, go to your Profile and tap your Snapchat Plus membership card at the top. After that, you can choose to turn on or off the ‘Story Rewatch Count’ feature.

4. Custom Icons

This feature may not be very exciting, but it can still make you feel important. Most people who use Snapchat have the same icon on their device screen, which is a white ghost on a yellow background. However, people who have signed up for Snapchat Plus can choose from about 40 different icons. 

To change your app icon on Snapchat, follow these steps. Open your profile and tap on your Snapchat Plus membership card at the top. Select ‘App Icon’ and choose the app icon you prefer from the options available.

5. Snapchat Plus Badge

The Snapchat Plus Badge is a feature on Snapchat that allows users to earn a verification badge on their profile. This badge confirms that the account is authentic and belongs to a well-known person or brand. Another fun thing about having this badge is that you can make your display name look cool with a black star badge (✪).

This tells your friends that you have a Snapchat Plus subscription. The badge is usually not shown, but if you want it to be displayed next to your name, you can do that by following these steps: Go to your profile, tap on your Snapchat Plus membership card at the top, and then turn on the ‘Snapchat Plus Badge’ option. All of your friends can see your badge if they have the latest app version.

6. Friend Solar System

Snapchat Plus users can spot a special badge on a person’s Friendship Profile that either says ‘Best Friends’ or ‘Friends’. This badge is distinguished by a gold ring surrounding it. On Snapchat, when someone is labeled as your “Best Friend,” it means that they are one of your eight closest friends. However, if someone is simply labeled as a “Friend,” it means that you are one of their eight closest friends, but they are not one of yours. To see your friend’s solar system, both you and your friend need to have Bitmoji linked.

If you touch the badge, a box will appear that shows you which planet you are on your friend’s list. Each planet represents a different position in their Best Friends list. Imagine your friend is like the Sun, and you are like the Earth in their group of friends. They see you as their third closest friend.

7. Snapchat for Web

Snapchat for Web is a version of Snapchat that can be used on a computer or laptop instead of a phone. Without a doubt, everyone will be able to use this feature in the future. Currently, only Snapchat Plus subscribers in the United States, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, and New Zealand can use Snapchat for Web. 

You can use Chrome to make calls or continue chats from your phone. Snapchat for Web has messaging features like Chat Reactions and Chat Reply. Snapchat will also soon release Lenses.

How Can You Join Snapchat Plus?

You can only sign up for Snapchat Plus if you live in one of the supported areas. If you don’t, you will need to wait until they make the service available in your country. To join, just follow these instructions:

Step 1: Open Snapchat and tap the icon with your picture in the upper-left corner to see your profile page. If you live in an area where Snapchat Plus is available, you will see a special banner with a golden color below your name that promotes it. Click on the banner. If you can’t see the banner, it means Snapchat hasn’t given it to you yet.

Step 2: Choose how long you want to subscribe for one month, six months, or a year. Before you begin paying for Snapchat, they will let you try it out for free for 7 days. Press the button.

Step 3: The choices you have for paying will be different depending on the kind of device you are using. Create an account using your Google account, Apple ID, or a linked credit or debit card.

After you have completed signing up, Snapchat will show you a screen that explains the main things you can do with Snapchat Plus. You can choose whether to make each feature work or not. Snapchat Plus is really flexible, which is a big advantage. You can choose which features you want, and you can do the same for new features Snapchat adds in the future.

If you decide to stop using Snapchat Plus, you can cancel your subscription by tapping the gear icon in the top-right corner of the screen. Then click on “Snapchat Plus”. After that, tap on “Manage your Subscription” to go to the page where you can cancel it. You will need to use the same device that you used to sign up.

Recent Updates in Snapchat

While Snapchat Plus is getting a lot of attention as a new update to Snapchat, there have also been a few other modifications. Let us look at some of those changes.

• Snap has brought out a new game called Ghost Phone. In this game, players can use augmented reality to uncover the hidden information stored in a forgotten phone and figure out the supernatural puzzle of what happened to the person who owned it before. It uses technology to put AR ghosts in the real world for players. It encourages Snapchat users to move and collect phantom energy.
• Shared Stories is a new version of Custom Stories. Before, Snapchatters could create a Story and invite friends to see and add to it. Snapchatters who are added to a group can also add their own friends using Shared Stories. However, Snapchat doesn’t have a chat feature, so all conversations are only between friends. Snapchat carefully monitors and controls the content on its platform, and if someone joins a shared story with a person they have blocked, Snapchat will inform them.
• Snapchat users can now show eBay listings to their friends by using the Snapchat Camera on their Android or iPhone devices. If you use the eBay app and choose an item, you can press the Share icon, and tap on the “Snapchat” button to quickly go to the Snapchat Camera with the eBay sticker. After that, make a new Snap using the eBay sticker and add different Snapchat creative tools. When the person sees your Snap, they can tap the eBay sticker to quickly go to the item’s page on the eBay app.
• Snapchat is introducing Director Mode, which is a new collection of camera and editing tools. These tools can help you make professional-looking content or improve your everyday experiences on Snapchat, and the Dual Camera feature allows creators to use both the front and back cameras simultaneously. They have also made it easier for you to easily change the background of your videos on Snapchat with Green Screen mode. Their Quick Edit feature allows you to take and edit several Snaps together easily.
• In 2020, Snapchat introduced Minis so that partners could make simple and fun things for Snapchat users to enjoy. They have created a new system called Minis Private Components, which allows partners to make small, simple versions of Snapchat using HTML5. Partners can also add social features like reviews and ratings using a special template system. Some of the first partners are HBO Max, Givingli, a company that makes virtual greeting cards, and Ding, a company that provides mobile data and minutes.
• Snapchat has introduced some new options that make it easy, quick, and affordable for businesses to create augmented reality (AR) content. Their Augmented Reality Creation Suite includes a 3D Asset Manager, a platform to manage web content, new technology to process AR images developed by Forma, and templates to create AR shopping experiences in Lens Web Builder.
• Snapchat introduced a new section on its app called Dress Up, where you can find AR fashion and virtual try-on experiences created by influencers, stores, and fashion brands. The Camera Kit for AR Shopping is a new tool for businesses. It allows them to add features like the Snap Camera and AR try-on to their own apps. Puma is the first company to partner with Snap and use this technology.

Conclusion

These are all the new features available with Snapchat Plus. Snapchat is trying to maintain its market share with various updates to its app and also by introducing new premium services like Snapchat Plus following the likes of other premium services like Twitter Blue, and Whatsapp Premium. 

When we looked at all the things you can get with Snapchat’s paid membership, Snapchat Plus, it doesn’t seem very impressive, and most people will probably not get it. In a simpler way, it will be exciting to find out how this subscription product affects the company’s income in the next financial report.

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