Snapchat to start charging users for Memories storage

Snapchat has introduced it should begin charging for storing pictures and movies – prompting a backlash from customers who’ve constructed up a big archive of previous posts.

The favored messaging app has allowed customers to avoid wasting and retailer beforehand posted content material in its Reminiscences function because it was launched in 2016.

But it surely says folks with greater than 5 gigabytes (GB) price of Reminiscences will now must pay to maintain them obtainable.

The app’s mother or father firm Snap declined to inform BBC Information how a lot the storage plans would value UK customers, saying solely the change could be made as a part of a “gradual world rollout”.

Customers on social media have reacted with dismay, accusing the corporate of being grasping.

Snap has acknowledged it is “by no means simple to transition from receiving a service totally free to paying for it” – however recommended it’s “price the fee” for customers.

“These modifications will enable us to proceed to spend money on making Reminiscences higher for our total group,” it said in a blog post asserting the transfer.

It mentioned a couple of trillion Reminiscences had been saved by customers since being launched almost a decade in the past.

The function permits customers to avoid wasting pictures and movies shared initially for twenty-four hours or much less on the platform, with customers prompted to re-post them as a reminiscence or “throwback” at a later date.

Customers with greater than 5GB of saved Reminiscences shall be prompted to improve to a 100GB storage plan, below the modifications.

Elevated ranges of storage shall be obtainable to customers paying for dearer Snapchat+ and Snapchat Premium subscriptions.

The corporate says it should present 12 months of short-term storage for these exceeding the restrict, and customers can obtain saved content material to their machine.

An organization spokesperson told tech publication TechCrunch its preliminary 100GB storage plan could be priced at $1.99 (£1.48) per 30 days, with 250GB included within the $3.99 (£2.96) value of a Snapchat+ subscription.

Snap mentioned in its weblog submit that its rollout of storage plans wouldn’t have an effect on “the overwhelming majority of Snapchatters”, whom it mentioned had lower than 5GB of Reminiscences.

However the transfer has been criticised by some on social media, with customers sharing messages despatched by the platform telling them they should pay for storage to maintain their pictures and movies.

Some say they’ve used Snap’s beforehand free storage over a few years which means they’ve significantly greater than 5GB of knowledge saved on the platform – so at the moment are going through large payments.

Others say being pressured to decide on between paying a subscription or shedding their Reminiscences is “unfair” and “grasping” on the a part of Snap.

Snap said in April that Snapchat had surpassed 900 million month-to-month lively customers – whereas rivals akin to Instagram and TikTok boast billions respectively.

Drew Benvie, founder and chief govt of social media consultancy Battenhall, believes that finally all social media platforms will cost for storage.

“The highway to paying for storage on social media is inevitable,” he instructed BBC Information.

“In an period the place we submit much less, however save extra, that is an evolution of messaging and social media platforms.”