For long, big tech giants such as Facebook and Google have been ripping off Snapchat’s popular features. But this time around, Snapchat itself is indulging a second time in copying a feature from one of their biggest rivals instead.
According to the latest news, Snapchat has been spotted to be working on a feature similar to TikTok’s Duets which it has named “Remix”. This feature will reportedly let Snapchat users create new content pieces from their friends’ snaps, hence the name ‘remix’.
Much like TikTok Duets, the feature will allow users to reply to their contacts’ stories with a recording of their own Snap alongside the original one as it plays.
Snapchat Inc has confirmed that the feature has been rolled out for external testing and closely follows the public test of a similar feature launched by Instagram for their ‘Reels’ videos.
In Tiktok, users can use Duets to sing, dance, or act alongside other users’ videos, which in turn creates an entirely new avenue for content itself. For instance, it can take the form of reaction videos, cooking tryout, or simply act as a shoutout to lesser-known creators on the platform. Therefore, in the case of the ByteDance-owned short-form video app, Duets is a core part of what makes it more of a ‘social network’ instead of simply being a platform serving videos.
In October 2020, in addition to the default left-right layout, Tiktok announced that it would introduce several new options for Duet, such as a top-bottom layout, a unique ‘react’ layout and a three-screen layout. Now, for its Remix feature, even Snapchat is considering adding those same formats as well.
Currently, as mentioned earlier, Remix is being kept under the wraps by Snapchat, which has released it to be tested among a limited group of users only. The feature is very likely to make its way into other parts of the app, such as the Spotlight, in due time.
Snapchat Spotlight is a Tiktok-like platform that offers a scrollable video feed filled with entertaining short videos set to trending and popular music. Thus, quite naturally, the Remix feature will be a perfect fit for Snapchat’s Spotlight as it will open up an interactive doorway to create a dialogue amid different content creators on the platform.
Lastly, it is confirmed that Snapchat has begun testing the feature on its app. A company spokesperson said that he can confirm Snap is testing the ability to reply to a friend’s story via a remixed snap. However, that being said, no estimated time of arrival for the broader rollout of the feature was revealed.
All in all, it now remains to be seen how Snapchat’s users take to the remix feature when it gets released in a full-fledged manner. We will keep you updated on all future development. Until then, stay tuned.
