Snapchat announced on Thursday that it’s launching a watchOS app to allow Apple Watch users to access the social network on their wrists. With this new app, users can now use Snapchat across mobile, web, tablets, and Apple Watch.
Users can now preview an incoming message and also reply using the keyboard, Scribble, Dictation, or an emoji. The company says the new app will allow users to do things like quickly let their friend know they’re “here” when meeting up at a restaurant or glance down and send a quick reply while on a run.
While you could already preview Snapchat messages on your Apple Watch by enabling them on your iPhone, there wasn’t a way to respond to them until now.
“The number of devices we use in our daily lives has grown,” Snap wrote in a blog post. “Already we’re seeing our community enjoy using Snapchat across surfaces including tablet and web, in addition to mobile, and this builds on our commitment to making Snapchat available across all the devices you use, including wearables.”
Thursday’s announcement marks a shift in thinking for Snapchat, as Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said years ago that he wasn’t too keen on the Apple Watch’s small screen, noting that people would probably prefer to look at a picture on their phone, rather than their Watch.
Snapchat is now focused on using its watchOS app to enable users to quickly respond to messages, not to view images or videos.
With this launch, Snapchat has outpaced rival messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp by releasing a dedicated watchOS app.
