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Instagram has launched another Snapchat clone

2026-04-24T07:44:54-04:00

Instagram is testing a new dedicated app that's focused around Snapchat-like photo sharing features. The app, called "Instants," was launched in Italy and Spain yesterday, Business Insider reports, and allows users to send each other disappearing photos that are available for 24 hours and can be viewed only once during that window.

The app is currently available on both iOS and Android. Meta hasn't announced if a desktop version will follow, or whether Instants will be launched in other regions, including the US. It resembles the "Shots" instant photo sharing feature that is already baked into Instagram messages (and was later rebranded to …

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Snap is laying off 16 percent of its staff as it leans into AI

2026-04-15T07:26:08-04:00

Snap is laying off roughly 16 percent of its global workforce in a cost-cutting effort to chase improved profitability with the help of AI. The cuts will impact around 1,000 full-time employees, according to a memo sent to staffers from Snap CEO Evan Spiegel. An additional 300 open roles are also being closed.

"While these changes are necessary to realize Snap's long-term potential, we believe that rapid advancements in artificial intelligence enable our teams to reduce repetitive work, increase velocity, and better support our community, partners, and advertisers," Spiegel wrote in the memo, which was included in the company's 8-K filing. …

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Snap is sticking with Qualcomm for its next AR glasses

2026-04-09T21:49:49-04:00

Snap's upcoming consumer AR glasses are still set to launch sometime this year, and they'll be powered by a Snapdragon XR chip from Qualcomm, according to an announcement of a "multi-year strategic agreement" between the companies.

Snap has been working on smart glasses for a decade, with the first model of its camera-equipped Spectacles glasses launching in 2016. But the past couple generations, which have been AR glasses capable of layering digital experiences over the real world, haven't been available to general consumers. The consumer Specs won't be the first time Qualcomm and Snap have worked together, as Snapdragon chips have powered …

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Snapchat’s ‘Reals’ joke mocks Instagram’s many ripoffs

2026-04-01T12:24:37-04:00

It's April Fools' Day, and Snap is using the occasion to "announce" that it's switching the name of Snapchat's Spotlight feed, the app's Instagram Reels-like feed of shortform vertical videos, to "Reals."

In a video featuring co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel, Snap also includes a description of "Reals" as a place where "real people share real moments. Really." Spiegel adds that "People feel free to be their full selves and to keep it Real on Snapchat" (In the video's captions, Snap capitalized "Real").

Spiegel also used the video to remind users about its ephemeral Stories format - which, like TikTok's vertical video feed, Instagram ripped …

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Snap is turning its smart glasses team into its own company

2026-01-28T07:37:42-05:00

A consumer version of Specs (unlike the developer preview pictured here) are still expected to get a public launch sometime this year.

Snap is launching a separate business for its upcoming Specs augmented reality glasses in a bid to lure new investors to the project. The new company, aptly named "Specs," will operate under Snap as a distinct subsidiary ahead of the long-awaited public launch of Specs glasses later this year.

"Establishing Specs Inc. as a wholly-owned subsidiary provides greater operational focus and alignment, enables new partnerships and capital flexibility including the potential for minority investment, allows us to grow a distinct brand, and supports clearer valuation of the business," reads Snap's announcement.

The announcement reaffirms existing pl …

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Internal chats show how social media companies discussed teen engagement

2026-01-26T11:46:05-05:00

Recently released documents show the big business opportunity that social media companies saw in recruiting teens to their platforms and how they discussed risks that heavy digital engagement could pose.

The documents were released last week as part of a major set of trials brought by school districts, state attorneys general, and others against Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube, alleging the design of their products harmed young users. The Tech Oversight Project, which advocates for more regulations on tech platforms to safeguard teens online, compiled a report on the newly released documents, which were independently reviewed by The Verge. …

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2026 is the year of social media’s legal reckoning

2026-03-26T11:56:24-04:00

Over the next year, top social media executives are expected to take the witness stand to defend their companies from an avalanche of claims about their failure to protect kids.

The first of many trials is set to begin this month in California, when Meta, TikTok, and YouTube face claims that tech addiction harmed a teenager's mental health. This case is just the tip of the legal iceberg. It kicks off one of two sets of so-called bellwether trials, where judges will hear a selection of cases that represent similar claims, whose outcomes will likely inform settlement amounts for the remaining cases. There are still thousands more cases behind …

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Snapchat’s new Quick Cut stitches a video together for you

2025-12-17T18:55:55-05:00

Snap just launched a new Quick Cut video editing tool right inside Snapchat that "helps Snapchatters turn their favorite Memories into beat-synced, ready-to-share videos in seconds."

With Quick Cut, you can select multiple photos or clips and then "instantly preview a rendered video," and the feature is accessible from multiple places in the app, including from Memories and your camera roll. When you're making a video, Quick Cut also automatically adds music and syncs it to the clips you're putting together, though you can change the track if you'd like, and you can add lenses to your Quick Cut video, too. If you want to do more detailed ed …

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Snapchat is letting subscribers revive their 2D Bitmojis

2025-11-12T05:04:45-05:00

The real 2D Bitmoji’s aren’t coming back, but the new Comic filter option is a close enough resemblance.

Snapchat is bringing its 2D Bitmoji user avatars back for paying subscribers. Over the coming days, users with a Snapchat Plus subscription (which starts at $2.25 per month for the annual plan) can enable a new "Comic Bitmoji" option that renders 3D avatars in a cartoon-style 2D.

"Think of it like a filter for your avatar: the same customization and expressions you love, reimagined to be reminiscent of that iconic comic-inspired look," Snapchat said in the blog announcement. The Comic style filter preserves the additional personalization options that were introduced when Bitomji's switched to 3D in 2023, and so the results provide more pose …

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Snap OS 2.0 is a small step towards AR glasses you might actually wear

2025-09-14T22:37:10-04:00

Snap’s 2024 Spectacles are still only available to developers.

Last September, Snap revealed its fifth-generation Spectacles, upgraded AR glasses with a twist: they were only ever released to developers. One year later, we still haven't seen even a glimpse of the consumer-ready version of those glasses, which the company still says is coming in 2026, but Snap is ready to show off Snap OS 2.0, a software update to those developer Spectacles that signals its plans for mainstream AR.

The big changes are actually surprisingly boring. A better web browser, a gallery app, some translation tools. These aren't the fun, whimsical AR experiences that Snap has pushed in the past - they're the functional things, t …

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