Snapchat, Oh Snapchat

“If it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it,” said every hard working human on the face of planet Earth.

***

Snapchat, oh Snapchat. I have one question: Why?

Why do you feel the need to automatically update yourself to the worst version I’ve seen of you yet? That’s the question I have yet to find the answer to in my 15 days of having version 10.26.10.

This app was once my favorite way to share quick moments and silly selfies with my friends. Now, you’re better off sending a letter in the mail to reach me, as memes across the internet have expressed. Snapchat’s redesign dropped on Feb. 7th, and with it dropped it’s App Store rating to 1.8 stars.

Not only are things hard to find, but hard to use too. I understand how trivial and “first-world” my issue is, but I’m baffled how one of the most used apps could devolve in a matter of seconds.

The “Stories” page is now nonexistent and has been replaced with the “Discover” page, which contains the Snappers you’re friends with who have public Stories (i.e. celebrities, meme accounts, etc.) It also holds advertised accounts, which is a new feature, one that I don’t like. No offense, but I really don’t want to flip through nine minutes of a Kardashian’s story in order to get a laugh from No Chill’s Story packed with memes.

So where did everything from the “Stories” page go, you ask. Now all the Snaps from your friends and the endless Stories of Fortnite victories are all smooshed into one place on the “Friends” page. This makes navigating the “Friends” page hard because it is constantly updating in order to keep everything in chronological order, which makes sending a tragic Snap of acne-cream-wearing-you to the cute boy in your old Spanish class just that much more unavoidable.

Although I’m sure there will be a re-redesign in the near future, I can’t help but think where they get their ideas from. All anyone has been asking for is to get the infamous “Best Friend List” from the initial version in 2011 and to be able to change their username from the one they picked in the sixth grade — graciegirl_101 isn’t exactly how I want the world to see me.

I was able to “hack” the App Store twice which reverted my Snapchat back to the old version, but my heart would always drop when I opened the app minutes later only to see obnoxious Bitmojis and no “Stories” page. I’ve now gone through the five stages of grief and am slowly accepting the new update, not because I want to, but because I have to.

Leave a Reply

Author Spotlight

Grace Padon

Grace Padon is a senior entering her sixth semester on staff as the co-design editor, copy editor, editorial board member and unofficial cover animations editor of The Harbinger. Outside of Room 521, Grace is a SHARE chair, apart of the best Junior Board team around, Link Crew and DECA with fellow staffer (and best friend) Annabelle Cook. When she’s not being nit-picky during deadline, you can find her blurting out “That’s what she said” jokes, editing pictures on VSCO and is probably sporting a KU shirt. You can find more about her and her portfolio here: https://graciepadon.wixsite.com/gracepadon »

Our Latest Issue