This Christmas, instead of a mass text, you can send your friends a mass snap.
Snapchat on Tuesday introduced Groups for up to 16 friends; create a Group when you're sending a snap or starting a new chat.
"When your friends are present in a Group Chat, we show their name at the bottom of the Chat," Snapchat explained in a blog post. "Simply tap their name to start a 1:1 Chat, and then easily return to the Group in one swipe!" Snapchat is calling this feature Quick Chat, and said "it's the fastest way to keep the conversation going with one friend without spamming the entire Group."
Any chats you send to a Group will be deleted by default after 24 hours. Snaps will go away after they're viewed (you can only watch snaps sent to a Group once), or after 24 hours if the recipient hasn't opened it.
Snapchat also today introduced two new creative tools — Scissors and Paintbrush. You can use the Scissors to cut out part of a Snap on the Preview Screen to turn it into a sticker. The Paintbrush "turns a Snap into an artistic masterpiece." You can use Paintbrush on Snaps in your Memories.
PCMag recently got our hands on a pair of Snapchat Spectacles. We conclude in our review that "if you can get your hands on them, Snapchat Spectacles are a stylish, playful wearable accessory to take your first-person social media curation to the natural next level."