Gadgetory

hey this is Ellis with the verge and I'm here with the latest version of snapchat today's update is the company's biggest yet letting you text and video chat with friends but not exactly how you'd think the new version of snapchat opens to the apps familiar camera screen but swipe right and you'll see the chats are now grouped into conversations like in most messaging apps swiping right on a friend's name brings you into a new chat window where you can send texts for the first time as well as emojis snaps photos from your camera roll and videos but then a tiny blue circle might show up in your chat window indicating that your friend has joined the conversation by tapping and holding on the blue circle you can instantly start a video call with them move your thumb down for a selfie video and up to show what you've been seeing the cool part is the video chats go one way or both ways you can show a friend your new shoes and they can just watch or they can hold the blue button as well to hop in to tell you what they think and there's no answer and call button you just tap and hold with your thumb as if snapchat where visual walkie-talkie and lift your thumb when you're done interestingly video chats can only be started with both people are inside a conversation so there's never any waiting or ringing like there is with FaceTime as soon as you leave a conversation your messages and snaps disappear forever you can however save an important text message like an address or phone number for later by tapping on it they're great touches all around the edges here like how you only get one push notification even when a friend sends you 10 messages and how typing indicators show up on your lock screen instead of inside conversations themselves because we all know that typing while somebody else is typing can get awkward the new snapchat envisions a future where people might send a snap or a text and then squeeze in a quick video chat during car ride video chat fidelity isn't as high as with FaceTime and other apps but that's hardly surprising snapchat has always been scrappy and weird and lo-fi which makes people so comfortable when they're using it switching a snapchat from my texting needs feels like a stretch but the app succeeds in breaking down so many of the barriers that make video chat so cumbersome and awkward I might actually end up talking face-to-face with friends more often than I ever have you