Snapchat users are revolting against the app and threatening to quit in the wake of a new policy change.
The company has announced that it will start charging some users to keep hold of the “memories” that they have stored within the app.
Snapchat introduced memories in 2016, and the company says it has been used more than a trillion times since. It allows users to store the pictures that they have taken within the app, and look back at them at a later date.
For the near-decade it has been available, that service has been free. But now Snapchat says that users will be limited to 5GB of free memories – and will be forced to pay to keep hold of any memories that are outside of that limit.
Why is Snapchat changing?
Snapchat suggested that it was no longer willing to bear the cost of the data storage required to look after people’s memories. At launch it “never expected it to grow to what it has become today”, it said in its announcement, suggesting that the amount of memories being stored in the app was higher than it had banked on.
The company also promised that it would use the money gained through the feature “to continue to invest in making Memories better for our entire community”, though it did not make clear whether that meant it would be changing the memories tool.
Snapchat already asks users to pay for some features, but they are usually paid-for when they are introduced. It offers a Snapchat+ service that gives users the ability to get access to early features and have more customisation within the app, for instance.
Why are users angry?
Snapchat acknowledged that it is “never easy to transition from receiving a service for free to paying for it”. Part of that difficulty is because the service has simply been available for free for so long.
But some users also pointed out that Snapchat was monetising what in many cases are very important and personal memories within the app. Indeed, the company noted in its announcement that the feature was “special because Snapchatters choose to save the moments that really matter”.
Snapchat has claimed that the change will not impact the “vast majority of Snapchatters”, because they are yet to hit the 5GB limit.
How can I preserve my memories without paying?
It’s important to note that Snapchat is giving users a grace period: any memories that exceed the limit will be stored for a year. During that year, users can upgrade to one of the storage plans to keep their memories on Snapchat.
It is also possible to download all of the memories in an account in one go, and that will remain available through that year. It can be done by Snapchat’s tool for downloading data, instructions for which are available on the company’s help site.
Using that tool, people can download not only those memories but the vast array of data that Snapchat stores on its users. That includes everything from the things they have bought to their friends list, and saved chats.
