Snap tests Snapchat Plus, a paid tier for special features and experiments

Snapchat is testing a paid subscription tier for its social network called Snapchat Plus (or Snapchat+), which would give users early access to experimental features like pinning certain conversations and exclusive icons.

The company hasn’t specified what exact benefits Snapchat Plus users would have, nor where it would be rolling it out. Our questions about these details only received a generic statement in response:

“We’re doing early internal testing of Snapchat Plus, a new subscription service for Snapchatters. We’re excited about the potential to share exclusive, experimental, and pre-release features with our subscribers, and learn more about how we can best serve our community,” a company spokesperson said.

It’s not clear how Snapchat will differentiate between what’s presented to Snapchat Plus subscribers, who are paying for the privilege of using experimental and pre-release features; and those who are part of Snapchat’s existing beta program, which is free (as most beta testing normally is).

But we might have some details about Snapchat Plus, thanks to app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi. In a series of tweets, he noted that the subscription will cost €4.59 ($4.82) per month or €45.99 ($48.32) per year.

This will unlock features like a special badge, pinning a profile as your #1 BFF, so you can quickly send Snaps or chat with them, exclusive Snapchat icons, and see how many friends have rewatched your story in the last 24 hours. What’s more, if your friends have enabled their location sharing, you can take a look at their whereabouts in the last 24 hours.

Snapchat will have to clarify how it’s storing this information, as this feature sounds like a privacy nightmare if someone gets hold of the data.

Techcrunch