Snap on Tuesday announced the launch of App Stories, which brings the company’s popular Stories feature to apps created by third-party software developers.
According to a new report from TechCrunch, the social media company is launching App Stories, which will let third-party devs bake Snapchat’s most popular feature right into their own applications. This is all part of the company’s efforts with Snap Kit, a set of tools that allows developers to use different areas of Snapchat, including ads, login, Bitmoji, and now, Stories.
App Stories will allow users to export their Snapchat photos and videos to other apps, theoretically expanding the number of people who can see content from the social app. The new feature could help introduce Snap to more people, helping them company maintain the user growth that is critical to maintaining shareholder confidence and growing the company’s advertising revenue stream.
At launch, Snap says there are going to be four applications using App Stories: Hily, Octi, Squad, and Triller, with more expected to take advantage of Snap Kit in the near future. One of the bigger names that will bring Snapchat Stories to its service is dating app Tinder, though that’s not available yet and it’s unclear when it will officially arrive.
“This gives people even more reasons to use the Snapchat camera to create and it also opens up our content to potentially new audiences,” says Snap’s VP of partnerships Ben Schwerin.
Snap stressed that users’ demographic information and friends lists are not shared with third-party developers.
The move is an integral part of Snapchat’s broader growth plans. The social media giant hopes that expanded access to its content and flagship features on other apps will increase its user base — and maybe its bottom line.
