Snapchat Updated with Text Messaging and Live Video Calls

Ephemeral photo sharing service Snapchat has released a significant update to its iOS app today, which brings integration of a new "Chat" text messaging feature and "Here" live video chat feature.

The app's new Chat feature allows a user to swipe right on a friend's name in the inbox to start text messaging, as messages in the chat screen disappear upon leaving the window. While in a conversation, users can also press and hold the blue photo button to pop in and out of live video chat, which uses a swipe up gesture to share video on the iPhone's front facing camera and a swipe gesture down to share video on the rear facing camera.

Snapchat saw its last major update in October 2013, which brought a new "Snapchat Stories" news feed feature. The app has also been the subject of some controversy in the past few months, as a security breach last December compromised the user names and phone numbers of more than 4.6 million customers, while a vulnerability in February opened up the iPhone to denial-of-service attacks.

Snapchat is a free app for iOS devices and can be downloaded through the App Store. [Direct Link]