Snap Announces New Tools, Partnerships, and Engagement Data at Developer Conference

At yesterday’s Snap Partner Summit, execs showed how a camera company could become a platform. If nothing else, they made history by pulling off the first non-cringe virtual conference of 2020.

The tech updates

• Augmented reality: With Camera Kit, Snap is opening up its AR and camera tech for third-party developers to put in their own apps.
• Minis: Developers can build applications into Snapchat conversations for activities like buying Coachella tickets or joint meditation.
• Bitmoji for games: Snapchatters can use their Bitmoji avatars for cross-platform gaming. Other companies can license this tech from Snap.
• Scan: Users can press and hold on their screen to identify plants, doggos, and more (think visual search). The company also introduced Voice Scan. Say, "Hey Snapchat, make my hair pink," and voila, your hair is pink on the screen.
• Local Lenses: Users can superimpose AR graphics on real-world landmarks, neighborhoods, and city blocks.

My takeaway: Snap already has dominant AR software. Scan, voice commands, and Local Lenses show it's making strides with AI and machine learning as well.

Snapchatter stats

Snap reported 229 million daily active users (DAUs) in Q1. The company said over 170 million of those DAUs used AR features every day, which is greater than Twitter's DAU count in Q1.

More than half of the U.S. Gen Z population has watched Snap Originals programming. Yesterday, Snap announced new partnerships with the NBA, the NFL, and NBCUniversal to create original programming for the platform.

Snap claims its map feature has 200 million monthly active users. To drive more engagement, Snapchat is refreshing the app, making the map easier to find and adding millions of local business listings.

Big picture: Snapchat's endgame is a superapp bundling messaging, photo-sharing, social media, search, entertainment, news, location services, and more. The company may not have the resources of a Facebook, Google, or WeChat parent Tencent, but it does have a young fan base that loves the existing features.