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Image Credits: Snap, via Snapchat Developer documentation 8 in the Lifestyle section on the App Store, will soon come into compliance. But Snap says the developer asked for more time to make these changes, which was granted. Sendit, however, doesn't currently use this modal even though it's the example shown in the developer documentation screenshot. Essentially, it allows Q&A apps to continue to function in much the same way as before, but without the potential dangers of anonymous bullying - the user is identified. Then, they can use the third-party app to post their question - but no longer anonymously. The feature would allow anonymous Q&A apps to come into compliance with the new policies as it will require apps to present a new modal to users that they must click to send their Bitmoji avatar URL and abbreviated Display Name to the third-party application. Here, Snap offered an example of how something called "Identity Web View" could be adopted by third-party developers who today use Snap Kit to build anonymous Q&A apps. Sendit appeared to be non-compliant as it was not utilizing a required feature, as specified by Snap's own developer documentation. Around 2% would be impacted by the ban on anonymous messaging apps, Snap said, and another 3% would be impacted by the new requirement to age-gate friend-finding apps. Sendit gains 3.5M downloads after Snapchat suspends top anonymous apps YOLO and LMKĪt the time Snap announced its new policies, it said the changes would impact a small subset of its over 1,500 developers in its wider community.

This suite of developer tools allows third-party apps to offer sign-in with Snapchat for user verification, or utilize Snapchat features like Snap's Camera, Bitmoji, Stories and more. This culminated in the new policies that were introduced in March which impact apps that build using the Snap Kit platform. Snap has since conducted a review of its platform policies with a focus on potential child safety issues related to third-party apps that integrate with Snapchat's features and functionality. This year, Snap was named in a second lawsuit, alongside Meta, related to an alleged lack of safeguards across social media platforms which a mother says contributed to her 11-year-old's suicide. Those latter two apps had been banned from Snap's platform after the company was sued by a mother of a teen who died by suicide after being bullied via those tools.

But it may be difficult for consumers to tell which apps are compliant, which are skirting the new rules and which are marketing Snap Kit integrations that they actually don't have.įor example, one of the apps offered an extension is Sendit, the anonymous Q&A app that surged to the top of the App Store last year after Snap suspended other top anonymous Q&A apps, YOLO and LMK. Snap says only a small number of developers asked for and were granted additional time to bring apps into compliance, as they worked in good faith to make the necessary changes. It is now mid-May and some developers of the newly banned and restricted apps are not yet meeting Snap's new requirements, we've found. The policy changes were effective immediately and existing developers were given 30 days to come into compliance - a date that would have passed last month. The Snapchat maker revamped its developer platform policies on March 17, 2022, to ban anonymous apps and require developers to build friend-finding apps to limit access to users 18 or older. A small handful of Snap Kit platform developers have not yet complied with the new guidelines around anonymous messaging and friend-finding apps announced in March.
