Yesterday, November 7, 2017, the world of young people was rocked for a few hours. The massive selfie social network Snapchat went down for a few hours. Millions were without the gossip stream from their favorite celebrities. Kylie Jenner’s Snapchat and DJ Khaled’s Snapchat went without posting for the first time in years! Fortunately they resolved their server issues and got things back running. Those dark hours, however, lead to several thousand tweets criticizing the tech giant for their server issues and other issues. #Snapchatdown and #snapchat found their way up on the trending charts. A prominent place of concern was found in the Android community. Snapchat’s application for android has been absolutely useless compared to its Apple counterpart. Today, however, Snapchat announced that they are rebuilding the Android version from the ground up. The parent company, Snap Inc, has recruited some of the top Android developers and put them on task: make the Android version work just like the Apple version.
Why Android users should be more excited than skeptical:
They know what’s wrong with their product. Developers are more versed in the way snapchat works in congruence with the multiple platforms, and aren’t just starting with a day 1 Android Snapchat app. A clean rebuild is difficult to mess up; they have a clear vision of how the app should look and work, they understand what mistakes to avoid based on the app’s individual needs, and finally it is easier to put the app through trial and error when you’re building from the ground up. More focused = better product.
An educated guess would put the soft, selected market rollout at early 2018. Tentatively we are likely looking at a Spring 2018 full release. Hang in there Android people! Just a little more waiting.
