Snap announced today that its subscriber count grew 71 percent year-over-year in Q4 2025. Its subscription offerings, including Snapchat Plus, Lens Plus, Snapchat Premium, and Memories storage plans, are projected to earn $1 billion in annual revenue. Snapchat creators will also soon be able to offer creator subscriptions to other users.
Starting on February 23rd, Snapchat’s 946 million daily active users will be able to subscribe to specific creators in exchange for ad-free viewing of that creator’s stories, priority replies, and access to exclusive content, similar to subscriptions on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. It’s launching first with a limited group of creators, including Skai Jackson and Jeremiah Brown, as reported by TechCrunch.
Instead of just notifying your friends or family members when you safely return home, Snapchat now allows you to send recurring alerts when you reach other locations you frequent, like a class or workplace.
The app began restricting access to users under 16 in compliance with Australia’s Social Media Minimum Age law. Though Snapchat says it will continue complying with the regulation, it argues that app store-level age verification is a better solution, helping to “ensure that young people encounter appropriate protections no matter where they go online.”
It follows Snap in reaching an agreement to resolve the first of several cases slated to go to trial this year about social media’s alleged harm to users, an attorney for the 19-year-old plaintiff confirmed. That leaves Meta and YouTube as defendants in the case going to jury selection today.
Just days after settling a social media addiction lawsuit, Snap is giving parents tools to see how much time their kids are spending in Snapchat, including how that time breaks down between different parts of the app. They’ll also get new insights into how kids know any new friends they add.
The settlement is happening “ahead of a landmark trial in a case that claims the social media giants engineered products to hook an entire generation of young users,” The New York Times reports. Meta, TikTok, and YouTube, who are also part of the case, haven’t yet settled. Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify.
[The New York Times]
Under the agreement, Perplexity will pay $400 million to put its AI “answer engine” inside Snapchat starting in early 2026. Snap notes that users will still have the ability to talk with its My AI chatbot, adding that it will also use messages to Perplexity for “personalization.”
The social media giants have agreed to boot users under 16 from their platforms by the December 10th deadline, but are still voicing skepticism about the policy’s enforcement and effectiveness.
Correction: YouTube has also said it disagrees with the law, but has not said it will comply.
Reuters: Their comments represented a shift in the social media industry’s response to the law, which is being watched by lawmakers around the world as concern grows about youth mental health. Under the Australian law, platforms must take “reasonable steps” to block users aged less than 16 or face a fine of up to A$49.5 million ($32.5 million).
If you have more than 5GB of Memories, you’ll have to pay $1.99 / month to store up to 100GB of your past snaps. Snapchat will also include up to 250GB of storage in its Snapchat Plus plan and 5TB with its Snapchat Platinum subscription.
Snap notes that the “vast majority” of users have less than 5GB of Memories.
[Snap Newsroom]
The app has introduced a new “infinite retention” feature, allowing you to save chats in individual conversations. Snap will notify everyone in the group when you enable the feature.
Previously, Snapchat only saved messages for 24 hours after everyone in the group viewed them, or 31 days after the message was sent, whichever is sooner.
[Snap Newsroom]
Meaning founder and former Verge reporter Ellis Hamburger on the ethical vacuum in AI and what founders aren’t saying publicly.
Details about the hardware are scarce, but CEO Evan Spiegel says the first consumer pair of Specs glasses will definitely cost less than the Vision Pro.
The government’s case could come down to whether the judge thinks MeWe is a closer competitor to Instagram than TikTok.
We’re getting started with day three of Meta’s antitrust trial with some controversy. A Snap attorney complains to Judge Boasberg that Meta released slides with inadvertently flawed redactions. He also accuses Meta’s lead attorney of openly referencing Snap’s competitive assessments that should have been private.
An Apple attorney echoes Snap’s charges of “egregious” disclosures, saying Apple can’t be confident that Meta will protect its internal information moving forward. Google’s attorney says its data has been jeopardized by Meta, too.
After investigating Snap for compliance with a 2014 privacy settlement, the agency found “reason to believe Snap is violating or is about to violate the law” related to its My AI chatbot. We don’t yet know the details of the complaint, but Snap spokesperson Monique Bellamy says it’s “based on inaccuracies, and lacks concrete evidence.”
[www.ftc.gov]
The LA-based tech company has 150 employees who have been displaced from the wildfires, Spiegel wrote in a letter published on the company’s website. Snap has donated $5 million to local relief efforts and “will do more,” he says.
In case you haven’t gotten your fill from Spotify Wrapped and Google Photos’ yearly recaps, you’ll be able to swipe up on your Snapchat camera to see all your highlights from 2024 starting December 17th.
An interesting look at how Snap has diverted from other platforms in its handling of former President Trump:
Unlike other major tech platforms, Snap has not lifted the ban on Mr. Trump’s personal account, which has drawn angry pushback from his campaign. Despite not allowing Mr. Trump to post personally, the company has said it would sell his campaign political advertisements, which must all go through an internal fact-check.
[The New York Times]
