Snapchat debuts redesigned app that splits friends and brands

Snapchat will be rolling out it's redesigned app, which will separate friends and brands as it tries to grow its struggling user growth. Friends will appear on one side of the app, the camera appears in the middle and brands on the other. Snap will differentiate between the two like this: A friend will show up on the left side of the app and a brand will show up on the Discover page. Snapchat no longer has the Stories feed, which had included content from friends, publishers, and the community. Now, Snapchat has Friends (Chat plus Stories from friends) and Discover (Stories from publishers and community). They will also be introducing a "best friends" algorithm that will put the people you engage with the most at the top of your feed. The Discover feed will rank publishers by frequency of consumption and time-spent consuming. The redesign will roll out to a small test group this week, before expanding to the rest of the public in the coming weeks.