Avid Snapchat fans, be aware: Snapchat+ is now available.
Social media company Snap recently announced it is launching Snapchat+, a paid subscription tier allowing it to deliver Snapchat's newest features to "some of the most passionate members of the [Snapchat] Community."
Snapchat+ was previously leaked by The Verge in mid-June when Snap was testing the feature internally.
Snapchat + Features and Details
Snap mentioned in its announcement that Snapchat+ is a paid subscription tier that provides subscribers "a collection of exclusive, experimental, and pre-release features." It will also provide Snapchat+ subscribers with prioritized support.
However, the company didn't expand on the features the subscription tier will provide.
But in spite of that, app researcher Allesandro Paluzzi previously reported that Snap is testing an ability to let a user pin someone as their "no.1 BBF" as part of their subscription to Snapchat+. He also found that users who subscribe to it can change the Snapchat icon with Snapchat+ exclusive icons, allow the user to display a badge in their profile, and see their orbit with their BFF.
Paluzzi also mentioned that Snapchat+ subscribers could know their friend's whereabouts in the last 24 hours and see who among their friends rewatches their stories. However, the ability for a Snapchat+ subscriber to see their friend's location is only available if that friend is sharing their location with them.
Unfortunately, Snap didn't mention if they are working on these features to make them available in the future. On the other hand, Snap spokesperson Liz Markman said to the Verge in mid-June that it's excited about Snapchat+'s potential to allow the cmpany to share exclusive, experimental, and pre-release features with its subscribers. Markman also added that the company is excited to learn more about how it can best serve the Snapchat community.
Snapchat+ Availability and Price
Snapchat+ is available in the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, with Snap promising to expand the subscription iter's coverage over time.
Interested Snapchat users can subscribe to the feature for $3.99 per month - 84 cents higher than what Paluzzi said in his tweet.
Snap's Reason To Launch Snapchat+
Snap is allegedly launching Snapchat+ as a way of diversifying its sources of revenue. According to Engadget, Snap mostly relies on its advertising model for revenue, with selling hardware being a close second.
Nevertheless, the revenue from selling hardware, such as its Spectales smart glasses and Pixy Drone, is "relatively small change," when compared to its ad business.
Snapchat + is the latest and the newest in Snap's offerings to Snapchat users which allow Snap to recover from its losses since the day Apple introduced a privacy feature for advertisements with iOS 14.5, which allowed users to turn off ad tracking on an app-by-app basis, per Apple. It will also allow Snap to raise its stock price after its dramatic drop over the last two months, per a separate Engadget article.
Snap isn't the only social media company offering a subscription tier - Twitter is also developing its own subscription-based service in the form of Twitter Blue.
