Snapchat, the world’s most popular ephemeral messaging service, today announced the launch of a new feature it’s calling Groups. The company says that Groups is a new way to communicate with up to 16 friends on Snapchat. Users can create Croups while sending a Snap or when they’re making a new chat. In true Snapchat fashion, Group chats will disappear automatically after a certain amount of time has passed.
When friends are present in a Group Chat, their names will be displayed at the bottom. Users can tap on any name to start a 1:1 chat and then easily go back to the Group Chat with a single swipe. This feature is called Quick Chat and it’s billed as the fastest way to spark a conversation with one member of the Group without spamming everyone else.
Snapchat says that all Chats sent to a Group are automatically deleted after 24 hours. Snaps sent in a Group can be opened and replayed just once by each member. Unopened Snaps will also be deleted after 24 hours.
Two new Creative Tools have been added to Snapchat as well – Scissors and Paintbrush. Scissors allow users to cut out part of a snap on the Preview Screen to transform it into a sticker. Paintbrush can be applied to Snaps in Memories to turn them into an “artistic masterpiece.”