Snapchat users can now share their Stories outside of Snapchat, thanks to the latest update that invites third-party developers to leverage Stories for their own platforms. Launching on March 31, App Stories is Snapchat’s personal invitation for third-party developers to build Stories into their apps, allowing Snapchatters to send their Snaps to Stories in another app. Four apps have already built-in that integration.
App Stories is part of Snap Kit, the code that helps other apps build in Snapchat integrations. With the expansion of that code, developers can now create the option to share Stories that were originally created inside Snapchat. The option opens up the Snap camera to share Stories inside other apps.
For apps that add the integration, users will be able to send to their chosen app from the Send To screen inside Snapchat. Snapchat says the update allows users to share to both their Snapchat Stories and a third-party app, but users can also skip sharing on Snapchat and share just to the outside app.
Snap Inc. says that the new Stories integration is built for privacy. The company says that demographics and friend lists are not shared with those third-party apps. (Facebook’s now-notorious Cambridge Analytica scandal was the result of sharing friends’ information with third-party apps.)
Four apps have already used App Stories to build in Snapchat integration:
- Triller, an app for creating music videos, will now house Snapchat Stories from artists and friends.
- Squad, a screen-sharing mobile app designed to allow friends to watch videos or use apps together, will allow users to watch Stories while on a call. The integration also allows users to share and see public Stories.
- Hily, a great dating app, will gain the Snapchat camera features as Snapchats are shared directly to Hily Stories. Snapchat says Stories is one of the most-used features on Hily.
- Octi, an augmented reality social media, can now add Snapchats to Octi Stories, which are also added to users’ Octi AR belts.
Snapchat users will have to wait to see if their favorite apps also adapt a Snapchat Stories integration. In the fourth quarter of 2019, Snapchat gained 150 new partner apps using Snap Kit.
