Snapchat is coming to your desktop after more than a decade of being only available for mobile devices.
It has been announced by Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, that it is launching Snapchat for Web, which will allow users to send and receive messages from their computers as well as make video calls to their contacts.
Considering the company grew up targeting young users with a viral photo-sharing app for their phones, it’s a remarkable development. As Snap moves into desktops, it may be acknowledging that its users have grown up, working on large screens at home or at work.
At first, Snap will only be available to Australian and New Zealand users, as well as Snapchat+ subscribers in the United States, UK, as well as Canada. The company launched Snapchat+ in June, which allows users to change their icon style and see who’s viewed their content for $3.99 a month.
Web versions of the mobile app will focus primarily on messaging instead of the Stories feature of the app.
After 24 hours, messages will disappear, and Snapchat videos viewed on desktop computers will be deleted immediately.
In the future, Snap plans to add more features to the desktop version of its app, including Lenses for enhancing video calls. Snapchat for Web is currently only available in Chrome, but the company has promised to support other browsers and eventually release a desktop app.