Snapchat Plus has officially launched today, and like Twitter’s own paid subscription, Twitter Blue, it appears to be designed for power users of the app, those who would be most interested in all the experimental and exclusive features that Snapchat has to offer.
On Wednesday, Snapchat announced the release of Snapchat Plus via a blog post. Few details about the new paid subscription were given in the announcement, but here’s what we do know:
In terms of features, The Verge reports that Snapchat Plus will offer little more than “cosmetic” changes: You’ll be able to alter the style of the app icon, pin and label a friend as a “BFF,” and “see who rewatched a story.”
And unfortunately, like Twitter Blue, The Verge notes that even if you pay for a subscription to Snapchat Plus, that doesn’t buy you an ad-free experience. You’ll still be stuck with ads even after shelling out $4 per month.
You just opened X and started typing your thoughts. Imagine the jump scare when a hand suddenly pops up on your screen, pointing at the promote button. It doesn’t say a word and simply points. For a growing number of X users, this isn’t a made-up scenario but something they have been seeing since yesterday, and very few of them are amused.
Most of us have learned to tune out the usual in-app upsells, whether it’s a glowing upgrade banner or a pop-up about a premium plan. A floating hand hovering over your draft is much harder to ignore, and that’s probably the whole point.
Scroll through any app for five minutes, and you’ll find someone maxxing something. Their skin, their sleep, their protein intake, even their Friday night on the couch. That little suffix has been everywhere this year, and now it has a trophy to show for it. In a recent announcement, Dictionary.com named maxxing its 2026 Word of the Year.
What are people actually doing when they’re maxxing?
Instagram is testing a new format for long-form videos called Features. It allows select creators to upload horizontal videos running up to 90 minutes long. Instagram has already tested the new format with creators in Brazil, and now, it's expanding to tens of thousands of creators across the US.
How will Instagram's new Features format work?