Snapchat has been seen as a joke on Android for years now. Compared to the app on iOS, Snapchat has been sluggish, ill-performing, and the user experience was just a problem. Fortunately, the company has admitted that it neglected Android users and it spent the last two years working on a solution.
To @Android. Love, Snapchat. #SnapForAndroid pic.twitter.com/MGOFQYa9Cj
— Snapchat (@Snapchat) April 8, 2019
Sitting down with executives from Snapchat, we were told that the company has been rewriting the Android app from the ground up. While end users shouldn’t notice anything different graphically, they will notice that the app is much faster.
As you can see from the above tweet, Snapchat is rolling out its rebuild for Android right now.
Going forward, Snapchat believes that it might start shipping new features to Android before iOS. We will have to wait and see if this happens. Until then, Snap will continue working with Google and Apple to bring more AR-focused features to its apps.
You can head to the Play Store to grab the latest Snapchat update:
Previous Snapchat updates
Fitbit teams up with Snapchat to bring Bitmoji to your watch face
April 4, 2019: Snap is much more than a photo-messaging service. One of its apps is Bitmoji, a personalized avatar service. By partnering with Fitbit, Snap now allows owners of the fitness trackers to add Bitmojis to their watch faces. You can learn about how to add the watchface to your Fitbit here.
Read next: How to use Snapchat on Android
Snapchat launches Snappables, AR Lenses that are games
April 26, 2018: Snapchat was one of the companies to pioneer AR stickers. It is now bringing more functionality to these Lenses by introducing Snappables. Instead of adding a funny face or design over your face and surroundings, you can play little games. As seen in its launch video, small face movements and other actions help you score points.
Snapchat adds groups video calls and friend tagging
April 3, 2018: Snapchat is all about communicating with your friends. To go beyond the quick video and photo snaps that the app is known for, the company is adding a group video call feature. Now, up to 16 of your friends can jump into a video call and all have access to Snapchat’s various AR Lenses.
Just like with Instagram, you can also tag your friends in your Snaps. This mentioning feature allows your followers to swipe up to add the tagged person as a friend as well as notifies them that they’re in your photo or video.