While Facebook creates a video of the top memories, Snapchat’s variation of the tool more closely resembles Snapchat Stories. Accessible by clicking the Memories and looking in the “all” tab, the feature called “Your 2017 Story” puts those images into a Stories-like reel. Users have the option to edit what photos are included, and can then share the 2017 Stories inside their own Stories for the day or send to a friend.
The tool doesn’t resurrect those self-deleting Stories, but rather takes shots that were saved inside Snapchat over the past year.
Creating a tool to look back at the year isn’t something new — Facebook has done this for several years and now even does holiday memories and looks back at the end of the month. Snapchat’s variation will look familiar to anyone that has used the platform before since the tool just turns those shots into the Stories format for sharing.
The feature comes shortly after Snapchat launched a major redesign aiming to make the platform easier to use while also separating out actual friends from public accounts you follow.
For Snap Inc., its own 2017 Story might include a list of the updates the platform launched this year. Computer vision now helps users find appropriate filters faster, the search tool was simplified and Snaps no longer need to be sent with a time limit. A new computer program also makes it possible to DIY your own augmented reality world lenses.
2017 wasn’t all positives for the platform, however. While the move to the New York Stock Exchange got off to an impressive start, the latest results weren’t so stellar, prompting the program to launch that redesign. The company’s Spectacles also reportedly had large numbers of unsold glasses. The company is currently working to try to attract more users, with the latest official count hitting 178 million in November. Another focus for the company is on augmented reality as the company works to expand that puppy dog face mask to more uses, including sponsored lenses.
