Memories lives beneath the camera home screen of Snapchat - a space the startup had reserved for it. But now, rather than saving to the camera roll, you save to Memories, which is quicker to access, cull through, and hand off. The company refused to talk on the record, but insists that saving what matters has always been an important part of the Snapchat philosophy. Apparently a big percentage of what Snapchat builds never ships, and Memories incorporates features the company was experimenting on across the product. After all, Memories alters the basic physics of Snapchat. But Snapchat’s team tells me CEO Evan Spiegel is the kind of artist that really needs to sleep on ideas to make sure they feel right. The new feature has been ready and in testing for months.

Unlocking Memories Started from the bottom Snapchat Memories begins rolling out now on iOS and Android starting on the West Coast with the goal of being globally available within 30 days. Memories could compete with default camera rolls as well as Facebook Moments, Google Photos, and Apple Photos’ own upcoming search and “Memories” feature. Snapchat’s teen users don’t want a permanent public timeline, but they still want to reminisce and tell bigger stories that incorporate more than just today. And “My Eyes Only” means you don’t have to worry about them swiping too far to something they shouldn’t see. The team wanted to fix the experience of handing someone your phone in person. With the ability to tap-to-fast-forward through saved Stories, they can breeze through your adventures, lingering when they want. Snapchat tells me it set out to create the most human camera, and making the camera roll come alive was the obvious next step. Yet by allowing you to modify previously shot content and add it to your story with a white border that signifies it’s a memory, Snapchat lets you share later and stay in the now Memories fundamentally shifts Snapchat to encompass the past rather than only being about the present. It creates a smart camera roll alternative in Snapchat where you can import your existing Snaps, search by caption or recognized objects, creatively embellish and re-share clips, and keep sensitive content for “My Eyes Only”. That’s just one of the sweeping consequences of Snapchat’s new feature “Memories”. You can now post old content to your Snapchat Story.

Snapchat camera roll