Snapchat's new Memories tool will let you upload snaps from the past. The app has always focused on the here and now rather than what you were up to last year or last week. The company introduced a digital storage bucket, Memories, for users to save their otherwise self-destructing images and resurrect them for future posts. Snapchat users will now have their own way to bring back old photos. A cloudy border on these pictures makes it clear to friends these are snaps from the past.
Previously captured photos and videos that weren’t uploaded to Snapchat before can be uploaded too, with the label “from camera roll.” Memories will be accessible by swiping up from Snapchat’s photo-taking feature, is one of the most complex additions over the company’s five-year history. Snapchat’s 150 million daily users, and its many more occasional ones, are expected to receive the new feature over the next month.
Memories, unlike Moments, includes a special, cordoned-off area for photos and videos. Users must enter a PIN to get into the My Eyes Only section. That means a friend helping someone decide which old images should be shared on Snapchat shouldn’t come across any nude shots belonging to the smartphone’s owner.
Posts saved in Memories are backed up online, giving users more reason to save shots from important life events on Snapchat as opposed to turning to any other social media outlet like Facebook, Google or Dropbox.
There are some limitations to Memories. Searches pull up only saved Snaps, whereas searches on Moments can include all photos stored on a phone. Using Memories also exposes those saved Snapchat posts, excluding those in My Eyes Only, to release when Snapchat receives a government order to turn over a user’s data.
Snapchat is launching “Memories” out to California first before it goes worldwide. You’ll receive a chat message from Snapchat once it’s ready for your use.