If you have Snapchat on your phone you may have received a notification to inform you about the private photo sharing services new update.

The update dubbed ‘Chat 2.0’ brings new additions to the applications messaging system, bringing the app into direct competition with Facebook’s Messenger app.

Users will now be able to send short videos or voice recordings to their friends via their private chat. This is done by simply holding the film button (video) or call button (voice). This will then post the recording in your chat in a similar format to the way voice recordings work on Facebook messenger.

One of the biggest additions is the ability to live video with your friends. To do this you tap the film button. This will come up on your friends screen. They will then be able to watch your video, ignore it, or join in by pressing the same button on their device.  Swiping down will allow you to minimize the video and be able to send messages whilst maintaining a video link. Another similarity to Facebook Messenger is the addition of being able to send stickers in chat. You can type a word and will then be able to see any stickers that match the word.

The update also brings a new stories feature allowing you to skip ahead on friends stories, meaning no more frantic tapping to clear stories.

It remains unclear as to whether this will finally allow Snapchat to compete against Facebook, something the company has been trying for a while. This update will go a long way to doing that though.

The update is available on the App Store today.