Subscriptions Are the Single-Best Thing in the Snapchat Redesign

Snapchat pushed out a new update today, and among the features is the option to subscribe to publishers’ Discover channels. Being able to subscribe means no longer having to deal with searching for updates from the (few) publishers you actually want to see.

Subscriptions remove the hidden-behind-a-cover feel Discover previously had. The professionally produced publisher content used to be hidden behind logos, and users had to scroll through names to find the one they wanted to watch. Now users can easily skip to what they want to watch, no guesswork needed.

The same person who wants to watch a Discover video from People, for example, probably isn’t the same person who wants to watch a video from IGN. Enter subscribe: just tap and hold a publisher’s story and updates will automatically show up in the “subscriptions” section right below people’s stories.

You might not care about what is on Cosmopolitan’s Snapchat Discover story (which currently has the headline “10 Things He Thinks About Your Vagina” over the photo of a pink rose), but someone probably does.

The update revamped the entire Discover page into a more user-friendly section with headlines and feature images. The move makes sense: Discover is the best way for Snapchat to pull in money. If no one watches what’s on the Discover page, no one gets paid.

Snapchat’s update helps make the money making professional content as appealing to users as the friend-to-friend made content. Or, as Twitter user MoeArora puts it:

Of course, as with every social media app update, the internet outrage machine is in full swing.

And some people even suggest there was one thing the update didn’t do that it should have.

All in all, the Snapchat update is for the benefit of the publishers. Snapchat doesn’t make money and can’t function without publishers propping up Snapchat’s valuation. At least with the subscription feature, you can pick and choose your way around which paid videos you want to see.