Snapchat is finally letting you keep chats forever — and streak with your whole crew
It could give you control over what stays and what streaks.
Snapchat has always been the app of the disappearing moment—the place where you send a goofy selfie, share a random thought, and know it’ll be gone soon. But now, the company is bending that rule with two new features: Infinite Retention and Group Streaks.
Infinite Retention is exactly what it sounds like. Instead of chats disappearing after 24 hours (or whatever timer you picked), you can now toggle an option to keep an entire conversation forever. And because this is Snap, transparency is baked in—both you and your friend get notified when that setting is turned on or off.
Then there’s Group Streaks. If you’ve ever obsessed over keeping a streak alive with one friend, imagine that dynamic but multiplied across your entire crew. Every Snap you send into the group contributes to one big, collective streak. As long as most of the members are participating, the fire emoji keeps burning. Even if it fizzles, you get a weeklong grace period to bring it back to life.
Oyinebiladou Omemu
Snap says these changes come directly from user feedback, and they reflect how the app’s community has grown. The teens who loved disappearing messages a decade ago are now in their 20s and 30s, using Snapchat as more of a messaging service.
Infinite Retention acknowledges that shift, giving you the option to hold onto memories, inside jokes, or just conversations you don’t want to lose. At the same time, streaks remain one of Snap’s strongest cultural hooks, and expanding them to groups gamifies friendship at scale in a way WhatsApp, Instagram, or iMessage haven’t cracked.
If you’re like me, this changes how you might think about Snap. It’s not just for quick throwaway snaps anymore, but for building a daily rhythm with your closest friends and groups, while giving you the flexibility to keep chats around as long as you want.
Will everyone use Infinite Retention? Probably not—some people love Snap because it erases things. But the fact that you get to choose is powerful. And Group Streaks could be the kind of thing that turns friend groups into mini digital traditions, like “don’t break the chain” challenges that bond people together.
At the end of the day, Snap is doubling down on what makes it unique: ephemeral fun mixed with just enough permanence to keep you coming back. Whether this makes the app feel more like WhatsApp with filters or keeps it playful enough to stand apart—well, that’s on the users to decide.
Louis Eriakha
