Snapchat recently released its first major update of 2018 – and while we’re sure there’s a useful feature knocking about in the February patch somewhere, it’s mostly making people lose the plot. Here’s how to turn off automatic Snapchat updates and ensure you retain your social media sanity in future.
App updates a normally a good thing, but Snapchat’s latest effort has left users fuming, thanks to a series of sweeping changes. Its radical redesign has, among other things, introduced an overhauled ‘Discover’ tab that now highlights videos from people you aren’t friends with and is prioritised based on what Snapchat thinks you’re going to like (aka the data it harnesses on stuff you’ve previously clicked on).
Needless to say, #SnapchatUpdate started trending immediately on Twitter when the update dropped – but perhaps not as the company might have hoped.
Here’s a quick sample of the mood on social media.
Snapchat have gotten rid of the "my story" part of Snapchat!! Wtf they might as well delete the camera option as well and just call it "chat" ?? #snapchat #snapchatupdate
— Chloe Angel (@chloeeangeel) February 6, 2018
But enough moaning. Let’s look at some preventative measures you can employ in future.
First though, it’s worth pointing out that there’s new hope for disgruntled Snapchat users. A workaround has been found that allows you to get rid of the controversial new version of Snapchat and revert to the old one. It has been implemented with some success, so while there’s no guarantees it’ll work for you, here’s what to try if you want undo the 2018 Snapchat update on iPhone.
If you’ve already had the new Snapchat update installed on your phone and the workaround mentioned above doesn’t succeed, there’s not much we can do to help. You can’t really ‘undo’ app updates – unless you’re an Android whiz, managed to keep the APK of the old version on a secondary device, and then are able to manually extract it and flash it back to your primary device.
Even then, this is a speculative method based on old Android forum posts that may or may not work with newer versions of the OS. We haven’t tested it and don’t really recommend trying it – inadvertently bricking your smartphone isn’t a great way to spend a cold winter’s night.
If you’re here, however, because you’ve heard the new Snapchat update sucks and want to ensure you don’t have it forced on you by an annoying auto-update, we can definitely help.
What you need to do is disable automatic updates, and that’s pretty easy.
If you’ve got an iPhone, simply navigate to Setting > iTunes & App Store. There, under the ‘Automatic Downloads’ header, you’ll see a series of toggles. Turn the ‘Apps’ one to off and, if you want to be doubly sure, ‘Updates’ as well.
For Android, you have two options. You can disable all auto updates by heading to the Play Store, firing up the main menu, and then hitting Settings. After that, you’ll see an option to disable automatic app updates. As Snapchat isn’t the first (and won’t be the last) app to force an unwanted, irreversible update on its users, this is the option we recommend.
Alternatively, you can navigate to Snapchat’s page in the Play Store, hit the menu icon (which consists of three vertical dots), and then deactivate automatic updates for Snapchat specifically.
Related: How to delete Facebook
That’s all there is to it!
Tweet your thoughts about the new #SnapchatUpdate to us @TrustedReviews.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
