Snapchat has been constantly evolving as an app, making it much more than just an image sharing platform. For its next major change, ‘Minis’ have been added.
Announced at the Snap Partner Summit last month, Minis are a new way of letting developers provide an app experience to users within Snapchat itself, thus making them easier to share amongst friends. The first wave of Snap Minis are now available for users around the world, including India. The most prominent one is Headspace.
Headspace is a well-being and meditation app which is known for its actionable exercises. As a Mini, it brings some of its mental health features such to Snapchat. With these integrations, conversations around mental health become easier. In a time when many young adults are going to miss out on important social interactions with their peers, they lose an outlet to be able to talk about their feelings. An internal survey suggested that most people talk to their friends before their parents or experts about such scenarios.
The Headspace Mini has been designed with a sense of calmness and minimalism. It can be accessed via a simple search or by hitting the rocket icon in chats. Once launched, you will be greeted with a couple of mini-meditations which are less than five minutes in duration and aimed at beginners. Snapchat believes that word of mouth will be an important element of how this Mini is used and shared.
Users can directly share a mental exercise with their friends via chat, which they can start by a simple click. Friends can participate in exercises together by switching on their audio too. It also comes with even simpler steps such as vibe check stickers to make the conversations less intimidating or awkward.
Along with Headspace, two other Minis will be available. First up is Prediction Master, where friends can engage in a game of guessing the future trends. Second is Flashcards, for users to create and share simple notes.
