Snapchat tests TikTok-style navigation for exploring public content

Snapchat could be gearing up to more directly challenge TikTok. The company confirmed it's testing a new experience that allows users to move through Snapchat's public content with a vertical swiping motion - a gesture that's been popularized by TikTok, where it allows users to advance between videos. Snapchat says the feature is one of its experiments in exploring different, immersive visual formats for community content.

The test is focused on content that's published publicly to Snapchat Discover, not your friends' private Stories. But because Stories can have multiple parts, users will still tap to advance through the Story, as before. But in the new experiment, a horizontal swiping motion - either to the left or right - will exit the experience, instead of moving you between Stories, as before.

For anyone who spends much of their time on TikTok, the vertical swipe now feels like a more natural way to move through videos. And it's almost disorienting to return to Snapchat or other apps where the horizontal swipe is used.

This test was first spotted by social media consultant Matt Navarra, citing a post from Twitter user @artb2668. One photo being shared shows the pop-up in the app which explains how to navigate the new experience, while a video gives you an idea for the feel.

There is a video of the update (sorry for the bad quality I record it with my phone) pic.twitter.com/gFZXlMFBBJ

- Arthur (@artb2668) July 13, 2020

Snapchat declined to offer specific details about the test, beyond clarifying it's in the early stages and only viewable by a very small percentage of its user base.

We're always experimenting with new ways to bring immersive and engaging content to our mobile-first Snapchat community," a spokesperson told TechCrunch.

The timing of Snap's test is interesting, of course.

The Trump administration is currently threatening to ban TikTok in the U.S. due to the app's ties to China and fears that Americans' private user data will end up in the hands of China's Communist Party. The app has already been banned in India for similar reasons. On Friday, Amazon instructed its employees to remove the app from their company-issued smartphones, before retracting that demand around five hours later. U.S. military branches have also blocked access to the app, following a Pentagon warning earlier this year. Meanwhile, Musical.ly (the app that became TikTok) has had its acquisition by China's ByteDance come under a U.S. national security review.

Amid the threat of TikTok's removal, rival social apps have climbed the app store charts, including Byte, Likee, Triller and Dubsmash. Instagram, meanwhile, has been expanding its TikTok-like feature, Reels, to new markets, including India. Even YouTube began testing a TikTok-like experience in recent days.

It's no surprise, then, that Snapchat would want to do the same among its own user base, as well, given that the TikTok U.S. audience could be soon up for grabs.

The test also shows how influential TikTok has become in terms of dictating the social app user experience. Where Snapchat once had its concept for short-form Stories stolen by nearly every other social app, including most notably Instagram, it's now the swipeable TikTok vertical feed that everyone is copying.