- Snapchat is reverting to a refined five-tab layout after a three-tab design failed to gain traction.
- The three-tab layout was released to limited users and hid the private chats and Snap Map tabs.
- The decision comes as the app's U.S. user base saw a slight decline of 1 million daily active users.
If you have been a long-term Snapchat user, then you may recall a time in 2017 when the app released an awful design that everyone disliked. And the company had to roll back on the decision. Well, it seems like history is repeating itself as Snapchat confirms the decision to roll back its simple layout in favor of a “refined five-tab” design.
Snapchat had released a three-tab layout sometime last year, which hid private chats and Snap Map tabs. Making it so that you could get to the Discover and the TikTok-style short video page faster. The UI was designed for more casual users and was available to a limited audience only.
However, Snapchat, in its Q1 2025 earnings report, has decided to discontinue this layout. They mentioned:
Our most engaged Snapchatters consistently demonstrated a preference for a five-tab layout, favoring the familiarity of tile-based content discovery and a dedicated Map tab. Informed by these insights, we have begun testing a refined five-tab interface that combines the best of both approaches.
While Snapchat’s user base in North America hasn’t seen a big bump for almost three years now, they did mention in the quarterly report that the number went from 100 million daily active users in Q4 2024 to 99 million in Q1 2025.
That said, we are not sure how many users got to try out this layout. I got it on one of my devices, and now it’s not there, even though I haven’t updated the app recently. I wasn’t a fan of it. But liked how my friend’s story showed up at the top of my chats. So maybe they will take both the positive and negative responses and refine the interface accordingly. How would you like Snapchat to redesign its app? Or would you prefer to keep it as it is? Let us know in the comments below.
