Snapchat could soon be getting a new tool to view and share Stories on the web. An anonymous source recently told Cheddar that the social media platform is in the process of developing Stories Everywhere, a tool that would allow Stories to be viewed without the app. Snap Inc., however, has yet to confirm the development, which means Stories Everywhere could be in development, or the tool may never actually make its way into the public version of the app.
Exactly how Stories Everywhere would work isn’t yet clear this early in the project’s development, but the goal is to make Snapchat content accessible from a web browser in some form, similar to how Facebook and Instagram have both mobile apps and online access. According to Cheddar, Snap Inc. is still in the process of developing the Stories Everywhere, which means the idea could take shape as a webpage for accessing Snapchat Stories or something else entirely.
According to Cheddar, another possibility for Stories Everywhere is to develop a web player that allows viewers to see content on webpages not hosted by Snapchat, similar to the embed tools already used by a majority of major social media networks, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. An embed tool allows users to take a piece of content, whether that’s text or a video, and embed the content on another web page, a legal form of sharing without infringing on copyright.
Snapchat Stories are designed to disappear after 24 hours, which means the sharing would need to take on a different format compared to, say, embedding a YouTube video that will be accessible indefinitely. The embed, then, could lead viewers to that day’s Story from that Snapchat user, rather than a specific Story.
A third possibility, the leak suggests, is to allow other apps to integrate Snapchat content into their apps.
At this point, Stories Everywhere is just an unconfirmed project leaked by an employee — details are scarce and the project may or may not eventually make it’s way to Snapchat users if it even exists at all. But, the leak comes as Snap Inc. is working to attract new users after disappointing results from the company’s move to join the New York Stock Exchange. A recent redesign aimed to bring in more users outside of Snapchat’s young user base. Stories Everywhere could either introduce new users to the platform through a web browser or bring in additional ways for Snapchat to generate income and please investors.
