Snap CEO announces design overhaul, takes a dig at Facebook and Twitter

The popular photo-sharing platform is all set for a major design overhaul. Photo: Reuters Snapchat users should gear up for change, as the social-media platform is ready to roll out changes to a few test-user later this week. The popular photo-sharing platform is all set for a major design overhaul. Co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel recently made the announcement, and also took a dig at competitors Facebook and Twitter over the issue of fake news. The company is redesigning its app to separate media and social communications, making it easier to use and understand, Spiegel wrote in an opinion piece in Axios on Wednesday. ?We think this helps guard against fake news and mindless scrambles for friends or unworthy distractions,? Spiegel said, taking a jibe at rivals Facebook and Twitter. ?The separation takes an important step forward towards strengthening our relationships with our friends and our relationships with the media,? he added. The design overhaul will focus on separating the ?Discover? page on the right and the ?Friends? page on the left. ?Discover? allows you to see stories from vetted publishers, stories from around the world or stories from influencers or people you chose to follow, while the ?Friends? page features updates from close friends and family. The changes will be available to all users on iOS and Android devices in the coming weeks, reports say. The entire redesign was done in-house, a Snapchat spokesperson was quoted as saying. Social media giant Facebook has been accused of copying Snapchat in the past. Earlier, this week, it started working on a feature similar to Snapchat?s ?Streaks? which is an addictive game that encourages friends to send messages back and forth for consecutive days.