Built with WebRTC: SnapChat

“Built with WebRTC” is a monthly series highlighting companies that have been successful deploying Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC) solutions to the market. In this article we will focus on the wildly successful mobile messaging app Snapchat.

Snapchat, Inc.

Messaging applications have been dominating traditional social media and business communications for the past few years with no end in sight. According to a report posted by Business Insider, “Messaging apps are now bigger than social networks”, it is inevitable that messaging applications will continue to increase in popularity and be a force to be reckoned with moving forward. To stay relevant and keep your users engaged, you need to be innovative. We have seen companies, such as Snapchat, take it a step beyond using messaging alone.  Snapchat is allowing its users to engage in real-time chats using enhanced audio and video communication. We are finding that messaging applications are becoming a hybrid model for companies to engage customers in new and exciting ways. It makes apps like Snapchat very attractive to brands, publishers and advertisers by giving them a way to reach customers in the apps that they use the most.

AddLive Acquisition

Snapchat has done a great job at thinking outside-the-box when it comes to the way users engage with their app. Acquiring the WebRTC Platform as a Service (PaaS) provider, AddLive, for $30 million in cash and stock in May of 2014 was a brilliant decision. At the time of the acquisition, we had a few clients using the AddLive platform for their solution. It was a stressful time for those clients as they were consumed with the thought of losing the platform that they trusted to run their businesses. Thanks to the great team at Snapchat, they decided not to evict AddLive’s current customers which included the likes of Doctor on Demand, Peloton Cycle, Regroup Therapy, Wello and many more. What’s most interesting and unknown to many is that Snapchat had been using AddLive’s service for a while before making the decision to acqui-hire their team. In our industry, there are still too few skilled developers with the knowhow to build solutions. Acquiring AddLive was the best option for Snapchat to quickly build a skilled team in order to scale their platform to offer live audio and video communications. As you can see, it worked well for them.

Company Profile

In Conclusion

We are beginning to see a shift in the way we communicate within the apps that users love the most.  Enhanced communications using both live audio and video communications directly are starting to shift us back to more traditional real-time interaction. Just as in the good ol’ days when you picked up a phone to call your family and friends, you will be able to do that plus much more using your favorite apps. Snapchat has done a great job displaying forward thinking and jumping at the opportunity to add technologies like WebRTC into their platforms. As they continue to grow, their competitors will scramble to find a way to provide some of the same capabilities. Consequently, with almost a two year head start by SnapChat, it will be hard for competitors to regain market share.

About Blacc Spot Media, Inc.

Blacc Spot Media focuses on Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC) development across web, mobile, native desktop and telephony implementations. Our team works on strategic projects developing custom applications, enterprise platforms and mobile applications for a wide array of clients. If you are interested developing your own WebRTC product or service, let us know how we can help you.

Take a look at our website for more information (https://www.blaccspotmedia.com) or email us at hi@blaccspot.com.