Snapchat Confirms Acquisition of AddLive for New Video Chat Feature

Now, the private messaging service has confirmed to the Verge that it acquired AddLive for the video calling feature. The Verge in a report quotes Snapchat, which confirmed the acquisition saying, "We are excited to welcome the AddLive team to the Snapchat family. We have no further comment at this time."

Further, the report citing some sources claims that the deal was finalised few months ago; when the disappearing-image message service popular with young people was looking for a video service that could enable it integrate live video into chats of the app.

Notably, AddLive's Founder and CEO, Kavan Seggie has now also confirmed the acquisition in a blog post. The post said, "We are very happy to announce that AddLive is joining Snapchat. While we have no immediate plans to add new customers to the platform, we intend to continue providing our ongoing video chat services to some of the most innovative companies in the world. Our special thanks go out to all our early customers and everyone who has helped us along the way. We look forward to continuing our journey with Snapchat."

Snapchat's new video chat feature automatically informs users when a friend is 'Here' (available) in chat. Users can then press and hold the video chat button to initiate live video calls.

The image sharing service also added new text chats, which unlike other social platforms; gives more options for private conversations while retaining the service's famous ephemeral feature.

For those unaware, Snapchat is a photo messaging app which can be used for taking photos, recording videos, adding text and drawings, and sending them privately. Added to that list of features are instant messaging and video calls. The app is different from most messaging apps in that users can set a time limit for how long recipients can view their 'snaps', after which they will be hidden from the recipient's device and deleted from Snapchat's servers.