Tag: Snapped

Snapchat just became untethered from mobile, thanks to Snapped, a third-party app that uses Snapchat’s API. The app – eventually to be made available in the app store – was developed by two UC San Diego students, and defaults to using the mac’s front-facing camera in combination with user login info. As well, you can upload pictures from the computer’s hard drive, something previously impossible by Snapchat’s design. Because it’s third party, there are some tweaks: you can choose to mark snaps as un-read, which means friends won’t know if you’ve opened the photo or not. Also, you can mark sent snaps as ‘read,’ so if you want to “take back” a snap, as it were, it will arrive pre-read and un-openable. It raises important questions about Snapchat’s security, particularly in light of the bumpy few months Snapchat has had: if a third party app can allow for photo manipulation in this way, is it also unreasonable to think that the photos themselves are inherently unsecure, savable, and permanent? Snapchat will have to address these issues in the coming weeks and months to remain as viable a medium as it is at present.