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I'm not hugely familiar with mobile, but I don't quite understand why Apple/Google can't just immediately kill Snapchat by rolling out an expiring photo message

by krstck 13y ago

I'm not hugely familiar with mobile, but I don't quite understand why Apple/Google can't just immediately kill Snapchat by rolling out an expiring photo message feature in their next update. As far as I can tell, there is nothing keeping users specifically on Snapchat since it pulls from your phone's contacts, and since the content expires it's not like you have a mountain of pictures stored in the application that you don't want to lose, like in Instagram.

untog 13y ago
What Apple/Google app? iMessage? Plenty of people on Snapchat don't have each other's numbers. One of the biggest issues would be that Apple never opened up iMessage (and Google hasn't opened up Hangouts) so there would be no cross platform snaps.
- ceejayoz 13y ago
  The same is true for iMessage. You can contact someone via Apple ID e-mail address rather than their phone number.
- krstck 13y ago
  Just bake it into the camera application. Select recipient from your contacts, select the time limit, and go.
- jug6ernaut 13y ago
  Hangouts is cross platform. Same as SnapChat. Hangouts is closed source, so is SnapChat. iMessage probably not, but hangouts could add this in a heart beat. Edit. Punctuation/formatting.
vijayp 13y ago
FB tried this with "poke" (remember that) and that didn't work so well. A service with a number of users is not as easy to copy as it would seem. Replicating the technology is one thing, getting all the users is another.
jliptzin 13y ago
Unless they have some kind of vendetta against Snapchat, I doubt either company is interested in cloning a zero-revenue app which is completely orthogonal to their main businesses, and may in fact turn out to be a fad. Edit: Turns out it's a lot easier than that: https://developer.apple.com/programs/terms/registered_apple_developer_20100301.pdf https://developer.apple.com/programs/terms/registered_apple_... "Apple may terminate or suspend you as a Registered Apple Developer at any time in Apple’s sole discretion." Apple could kill snapchat at the click of a mouse and give any reason they want.
- ctdonath 13y ago
  Apple's software & service products don't exist for their own revenue, they exist to attract more people to the proprietary hardware and to keep them there. Considering Facebook's & Twitter's iOS integration, Apple might just do the same with Snapchat and pay them some real revenue - making Snapchat utterly dependent on Apple without actually making the service Apple's problem.
brown9-2 13y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effects
- badman_ting 13y ago
  … GP mentioned Apple and Google specifically, both of whom know who their users' contacts are. Come on.
  - brown9-2 13y ago
    Yes, but neither company is great at publishing cross-platform apps. I gave the "network effects" example to point out that "killing Snapchat" wouldn't be so simple as having built-in iOS functionality - because the people that Snapchat users like snapchatting with are already all in Snapchat and might not carry over to a new platform-only service.

by krstck 13y ago

untog 13y ago

What Apple/Google app? iMessage? Plenty of people on Snapchat don't have each other's numbers. One of the biggest issues would be that Apple never opened up iMessage (and Google hasn't opened up Hangouts) so there would be no cross platform snaps.

ceejayoz 13y ago
The same is true for iMessage. You can contact someone via Apple ID e-mail address rather than their phone number.
krstck 13y ago
Just bake it into the camera application. Select recipient from your contacts, select the time limit, and go.
jug6ernaut 13y ago
Hangouts is cross platform. Same as SnapChat. Hangouts is closed source, so is SnapChat. iMessage probably not, but hangouts could add this in a heart beat. Edit. Punctuation/formatting.

vijayp 13y ago

FB tried this with "poke" (remember that) and that didn't work so well. A service with a number of users is not as easy to copy as it would seem. Replicating the technology is one thing, getting all the users is another.

jliptzin 13y ago

Unless they have some kind of vendetta against Snapchat, I doubt either company is interested in cloning a zero-revenue app which is completely orthogonal to their main businesses, and may in fact turn out to be a fad. Edit: Turns out it's a lot easier than that: https://developer.apple.com/programs/terms/registered_apple_developer_20100301.pdf https://developer.apple.com/programs/terms/registered_apple_... "Apple may terminate or suspend you as a Registered Apple Developer at any time in Apple’s sole discretion." Apple could kill snapchat at the click of a mouse and give any reason they want.

ctdonath 13y ago
Apple's software & service products don't exist for their own revenue, they exist to attract more people to the proprietary hardware and to keep them there. Considering Facebook's & Twitter's iOS integration, Apple might just do the same with Snapchat and pay them some real revenue - making Snapchat utterly dependent on Apple without actually making the service Apple's problem.

brown9-2 13y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effects

badman_ting 13y ago
… GP mentioned Apple and Google specifically, both of whom know who their users' contacts are. Come on.
- brown9-2 13y ago
  Yes, but neither company is great at publishing cross-platform apps. I gave the "network effects" example to point out that "killing Snapchat" wouldn't be so simple as having built-in iOS functionality - because the people that Snapchat users like snapchatting with are already all in Snapchat and might not carry over to a new platform-only service.