Snapchat is once again working on a redesign of its app that it is currently testing with a small number of its userbase. The redesign sees the company give Snap Map a section of its own and to its original video programming section in the app. It is also testing inserting breaking news headlines on the Discover page.
Snapchat is currently divided into three screens but the design will see Snap divide it into five. One of the new sections will be taken by Snap Map which will display the location of your friends on a map. The existing Discover tab where you could see the popular snaps from other Snapchat users has been renamed to ‘Community,’ with Snap’s original content now being highlighted in a new Discover section.
As a part of the redesign, Snapchat is also getting a navigation bar located at the bottom so that users can quickly know where they are inside the app and switch between sections by tapping instead of swiping.
Snapchat has confirmed the redesign that it is currently testing.
“We’re exploring ways to streamline navigation across Snapchat, soliciting feedback from our community to inform future versions of our app,” a Snap spokeswoman told me. “This test’s UI offers more space to innovate and increases the opportunity to engage with and discover even more of what Snapchat has to offer.”
As for displaying breaking news, Snapchat will only allow news from high-quality and mainstream news publishers like the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post on the platform under the ‘Happening Now’ section to prevent the spread of misinformation.
Learning from the mistake that it made a few years ago where it rolled out a controversial redesign of the feed with little testing, Snapchat is taking things a bit slow this time around. It confirmed to The Verge that the tests are still in their “early stages” and that things could change substantially before the redesign is rolled out globally.
With the design, Snapchat is perhaps hoping to attract adults and further spur its growth. The redesign will also do a better job of highlighting the original content produced by Snap as well as make the app more useful by showing the breaking news.
[Via The Verge]