James has big hopes for new app
A business-savvy 20-year-old from Shenington is improving the safety of one of the world’s most popular social media platforms with his own free app.
James Bryan, has developed an app called Snapsearch, designed to improve the experience of Snapchat users.
The app allows users to verify the identity of Snapchat users before adding them or searching for friends on Snapchat without having to know their username or snap code.
James says his app significantly improves the safety of Snapchat users as currently it is almost impossible to identify the person who adds them before accepting or rejecting them.
Currently studying Business Management in his second year at the University of Aberystwyth, James hopes his app could eventually be picked up by Snapchat themselves and incorporated into its own app.
James said: “I came up with the idea for this app when I was in the sixth form. I wanted to add a friend on Snapchat but I didn’t know their username. We went to local college students with a questionnaire, as the majority users of Snapchat are around that age group, and 100% of them thought it could be improved by including a way to search for people.
“The growth of Snapchat is phenomenal, even the White House has its own Snapchat channel. Snapchat now has more daily users than Twitter, 60% of Smartphone users are on Snapchat, and it is worth over $18 billion. However the Snapchat app has grown so quickly that it has lots of problems. This is what I wanted to capitalise on and I’m blown over by the success of Snapsearch to date. The response we’ve had has been fantastic which shows me there is a real gap in the market for it.
“Regular users of Snapchat know its down side - searching for another user, brand or celebrity is incredibly hard. Despite a massive audience, users, who are primarily under the age of 24, find this challenge frustrating and unnecessary. They expect ease of use and speed, features they are very used to experiencing in other apps and products.”
Since its launch just over a year ago Snapsearch has proved very popular, with more than a thousand users in 17 countries across four continents.
In addition to its search aspect, the app includes several other unique features including interest pages, where users can stay up to date with their favourite bands, teams or brands and the world’s first customisable landing page on a social media app.
James says he has invested around £12,000 developing the app, including generous outside sources of funding and a contribution from Sibford School, which he used to attend.
More than 100 schools across the UK have also agreed to promote the app as a result of its advance security function.
Snapsearch is available for download at Apple itunes and via http://snapsearchapp.co/.
