Snapchat is beginning to go through some new changes that are drawing attention from Snapchat users. Snapchat, an app that many people use for multiple purposes, is changing. Snapchat has recently announced a new major update that could affect all of the photos and videos everyone has stored and saved on the app for many years. The memories feature on Snapchat, where people save their snaps and videos taken on the app, rather than sending them or storing them in their camera roll instead has been free for a very long time. For years, people have used this feature to keep years’ worth of photos, videos, and saved memories without having to worry about hitting a storage limit or running out of space. However, this long-time helpful feature is about to change.
Now, Snapchat is introducing a new update that places a limit on how many memories can be saved for free. With this new update, the free users who do not pay for a subscription will only be able to store 5 GB worth of memories. Once that limit is reached, users will either have to delete old memories, download them to their camera roll, or upgrade to a paid plan to be able to store more memories. This is a major change for the app, which has offered unlimited free storage for Memories since the feature was first announced back in 2016. Snapchat has stated, “These changes will allow us to continue to invest in making Memories better for our entire community.”
The new paid plans come with several different options offering different amounts of storage capacity. The available plans that Snapchat has are the standard plan, which has 100 GB, Snapchat+, which has 250 GB, or Snapchat Platinum, which has 5 TB. Accounts that go over the free 5 GB limit without upgrading will risk losing older photos or videos automatically, as the system will begin deleting the earliest memories first. This update is causing concern and frustration amongst many people who don’t want to lose their memories.
Despite Snapchat’s efforts to make the new update be seen as an improvement, the change has sparked worry and disappointment among users. Many people who have used this app for years use the Memories feature to store old and personal memories.
“I think the new update is dumb. I don’t want to lose my old memories because I love going back and looking at them, but I don’t wanna pay for the plan.” BHS student, Katie Giebel ‘29, says.
For those users, the idea of paying to keep their old photos and videos could feel unfair, especially since these memories have always been free to store in the app. Others have argued that the update could be helpful to reduce extra photos or videos and improve the app.
“I think I will get extra storage, since I have snap+, so I will have space for all of my memories, but I don’t think this update is fair, and once I lose snap+, hopefully my memories won’t be deleted.” BHS student, Aynslee Joyce ‘29, says.
Snapchat also plans to bring the update out to users around the world. Snapchat has encouraged users to pay attention and monitor how much storage they have left, so they won’t lose photos or videos. Whether this new update will help the app or push people away from it is still unknown, but one thing is certain: this new update changes the way people have been saving and holding on to their Snapchat Memories.
