Snapchat adds a Bitmoji quick message feature to home screen in latest update

Snapchat’s latest update, which launched in beta only a week ago, was just released officially on AppStore and Google Play and adds quite a handy new feature for Bitmoji enthusiasts. Bitmoji, which Snapchat acquired in March last year, will now be available as a widget on your phone’s home screen and will allow you to quickly open a conversation with best friends who have customized avatars made with the app. 

Instead of digging and searching through threads and messages, based on your interaction with people, their personal avatars will appear on the home screen of your phone. It's important to note here that Snapchat has an algorithm to sort out who your "Snapchat Best Friends" are, based on the frequency and content of your chats, and the widget pulls only avatars of your besties. It does seem like Snapchat is looking to continue to build on attractive features, challenging more popular platforms and messaging apps, such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. We sort of expected a competitive move from the company, after it went public at the beginning of the month, seeing its shares soar up 44% upon IPO.

Bitmoji already offers a variety of engaging and fun features, such as great customization options on stickers and the option to add it as a keyboard in other messaging apps. In this spirit, Snapchat update seems on track to add to its value, making up for a more interactive chat experience. You can add the new widget like you would normally do on your iOS or Android device. However, there's a slight difference in its functionality on each platform. It's not a big deal, but avatars of your besties will appear automatically on iOS, whereas on an Android phone, you would have to select up to four friends. Apart from this, the widget is just as fun on either OS.