It looks like we are in messaging app premium mode season as Snap, the parent company behind Snapchat, has announced that it is testing a paid version of Snapchat called Snapchat Plus. This follows on from all the recently confirmed rumors about Telegram’s upcoming premium mode.
The news of Snapchat Plus broke via Twitter when independent app researcher and developer Alessandro Paluzzi tweeted out screenshots and information on the features that would come with the premium subscription.
Paluzzi’s tweet is absolutely filled with information, so there is lots to report. According to the app researcher, by subscribing to Snapchat you will:
- Be able to pin a friend as a #1 BFF
- Get access to exclusive Snapchat icons
- Be able to display a badge in your profile
- Be able to see your orbit with BFF
- Be able to see your Friend’s whereabouts in the last 24 hours
- Be able to see how many friends have rewatched your story
Interestingly, particularly when you consider it took almost a month for the details about the features of Telegram’s premium mode to leak, Paluzzi also has information on how much Snapchat Plus will cost. In another screenshot, he shows the various payment options available from paying for one month at a time to paying for a full year. The monthly subscription will be €4.59 a month while the yearly subscription will clock in at €45.99 for the year. That means they’ll likely cost $4.99 or $49.99 each respectively, but they are just best bets.
Snap has actually confirmed the news to The Verge too, so we know for certain that the new premium tier is on the way. Spokesperson Liz Markman said:
“We’re doing early internal testing of Snapchat Plus, a new subscription service for Snapchatters. We’re excited about the potential to share exclusive, experimental, and pre-release features with our subscribers, and learn more about how we can best serve our community.”
It is interesting to see two messaging apps moving to offer premium versions of their app experience. This could be because of recent changes Apple introduced to iOS, which gives users the chance to ask app developers not to track their activity. This privacy-focused feature has hit many app developers who were monetizing the data they were collecting on user behavior. If you are interested in protecting your privacy when you are online, you might want to check out our guide to the best privacy extensions for Google Chrome.
Image via: Twitter
