Instance creator develops unofficial Snapchat client, dubbed ChatSnap, for Windows Phone, now in beta

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We told you on Friday about Swapchat, the new unofficial Snapchat that is due within the next week or so for Windows Phone 7.x and 8. That app currently allows photos (but not yet videos) to be posted directly to Snapchat and you can even screenshot at will.

We also told you about another developer who was working on an unofficial app for the popular message-expiring service. That developer is none other than Daniel Gary, the man behind Instance (formerly, Itsdagram), the first fully featured Instagram client for Windows Phone.

ChatSnap for Windows Phone

ChatSnap has now entered private beta (so please don't ask for a Store link) and it too is expected in the near future to the Windows Phone Store. Currently, it only supports photo uploads but video clips we are told are on the way, in addition to a “Find friends” feature.

Right now on first beta, the app is a bit sparse, but it’s also very “Modern UI” with the familiar Inbox – Sent – Friends  layout, quick access to the camera (front and rear) and Settings.

We’ll keep you posted about the status of both Swapchat and now ChatSnap as they become available. Of course an official Snapchat app is also expected to launch in the near future as well, but we have a feeling these unofficial ones will be quite compelling on their own.

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino

Daniel Rubino is the Executive Editor of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft here since 2007, back when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, Microsoft Surface, laptops, next-gen computing, and arguing with people on the internet.
103 Comments
  • Everytime an article linked to Snapchat is posted, I get my hopes up thinking a link is up.
  • I know right, I hate when they keep posting about how things are in development or Private Beta testing. It just keeps messing with my mind cuz it wont be out for at the very least probably like 2 weeks. And I'll keep checking for new about it and I'll get random tid bits about things I don't really care for. Its like a tease lol. I'd rather just check in and see that its out lol. I understand why they do it because that keeps ppl hopeful but man its so dang teasing!
  • Every time.
  • I just love our devs. If those companies don't like to develop for WP users our devs will step up. Thank you guys!
  • +920
  • +preordered925
  • ^LMFAO
  • HAHAHAHA awesome 925
  • +810
  • +950 (or whatever the EOS ends up being called)
  • +920
  • I hope these devs make good money before these companies come knocking at the door asking them to take down the apps.
  • +920
  • 921
  • +(520*521*620*720*820*920*925*928) = 7.83171079 x 1022                     (Calculated using Bing :-) )
  • I knew Daniel Gary was working on Snapchat 
  • Slow clap for you sir. /s
  • Why thank you Mr.Vegas 
  • I agree we have some of the best dev around.
  • I love instance so im gonna be expecting another quality app :D snapchats definately up there on apps id like
  • Would love to see this compared with Swapchat. :)
  • That's Great going by Dan
  • Soon we will be looking for a new name for this app.
  • For the record, I told him to go with MetroSnap! :P
  • Should have been called,  OhhhSnap!
  • LOL, + 1000 for OhhhSnap!
    LMAO'd in this quiet office...
  • ^^^ this gets my vote x1000
  • yesssss, I love clever names and this one most definitely wins it!!
  • Aye to "OhhhSnap!"
  • Please. I don't ask for much. Please.
  • DEFINITELY this! No need to poll it. just run with this!
  • SNAPDAT would be a crude name but let the developers of snapchat know they can't hold WP down by not making an official app. WHERE THERE'S A WILL, THERE'S A WAY!
  • Whatever happened to this is it still in development?
  • Spry snapchat client? :P
  • Jordanek, stop trying to make spry happen. Its not going to happen! (ha if anyone has seen or heard of mean girls then you should get my reference lol)
    I still like the spry name though. One day...one day :P
  • I get your reference lol
  • It does look delicious with all it's "metro"-y goodness
  • I bet SnapChat won't like the name... ChatSnap the dyslexic third party app! Lol
  • Daniel why dint you send a snap back lol I see my message. Btw I'm jakem191 lol ps swap chat is amazing!
  • Because I find Snapchat weeeeeiiiird, lol
  • Don't worry I do too more for the under 25's lol. But I have to admit swapchat is great app and hopefully will get more wp8 developers to develop an app
  • I think I'm starting to love 3rd party apps more than the legit ones! Our devs deserve our 79p's because the experience is not only better in most cases, but months in advance!! WP4LiFe :P
  • If Daniel Gary reads this, dude I will start a kickstarter or donation bucket to get you to put Instance on 7.x sooner rather than later.
     
    On topic, I'm so happy to see 3rd party development steamrolling along. I look forward to another app naming contest.
  • This is what I am saying for a long time ..
    Devs should start a Kickstarter , our WP Community would surely love to help u guys :)
  • +9000
  • I'm glad developers are doing all this great work for WP. I was kinda holding out for the "official" on this one but I might have to check this out or compare it to the "swapchat" version.
     
     
  • Ladies and gentlemen. Please get your private parts out and get to snapping. Maybe Brett Favre won't get caught using this service.
  • Lmao
  • Off topic. Which Gmail app is that on the photo?
  • I was wondering the same thing...
  • I'll do a post later today on it
  • ...!?!?
  • Just a nice unofficial app, nothing big, but useful
  • made by Daniel Gary, I suppose.
  • Awesome. Waiting
  • Well, horny teens and adults make up an important portion of any Mobile OS Marketshare. (Almost) anything to make the WP user base grow up. Also we all know that Instagram + Kik + Snapchat = the delight of sexters.
  • Sweet. Go windows phone!!!
  • I hope the dev fixes the notifications and live tiles issue some of us have with Instance before going too deep into a new project.
  • And the CONSTANT crashing!
  • But on the more serious side of things, having developers develop well featured third party apps in no time will (hopefully) get the Snapchat devs and many other's attention and increase our chances of getting more official apps.
  • How about giving some of us the option to be beta teasters when you write articles like this one or the many others.
  • How about sorry, no? These are private betas up to the discretion of the developer, not us. They want it closed for a reason: to manage feedback from a small pool of users. This isn't about giving you guys early access for the fun of it, it's a job. You are certainly free to contact the developer to ask to join, but we won't post their contact info unless they ask us. Because they don't want to be slammed with hundreds of requests that they don't need.
  • My post was merely a question not a demand, nor a request. Sorry if my punctuation alluded to anything other than just that as I didn't expect to get in on the beta. Sheesh, I'll make sure to keep my thoughts like this one to myself. ( .__.)
  • I mean...he specifically wrote in the article not to ask for a link to the store because it's in PRIVATE beta. How else do you want him to answer your condescendingly toned post that completely disregards what he wrote in the article?
  • First off, I never asked for anything directly simply suggested adding that in as a bonus if they wanted to. I know the developers work hard on these products and I wasn't asking so I could say I have the app before others I really wanted to give feedback not on just this app but on all apps so developers can see the demand is here also with Windows Phone, but whatever. I can clearly read so the actual response wasn't necessary, but like I already said I'll keep it to myself next time or just ignore these articles entirely.
  • Oh keep it in your pants.
  • This is good news. But I hope Gary still has time to check and improve Instance. After the cosmetic update, the design became more inconsistent, seems like having 2 apps when checking feeds and when checking your profile. Honestly for me, other IG vewer is more stable and provides smoother experience. But still I thank Daniel for his continuous support for our platform and I am very hopeful everything will improve on the next updates. Cheers!
  • I promise I've not forgotten Instance.  With all of the support the Windows Phone community has shown me, I won't let you guys down.
  • Great to hear this quick feedback from you! Looking forward and thanks again for doing these great apps!
  • WP7 users are rooting for you too
  • Glad to hear it, Gary. Keep up the good work!
  • I feel like writing a love letter to Daniel Gary!
    Also this is oddly relevant even now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQm07iuC-zs
  • Just marry him already!
  • This guy is awesome. Just take my money... Take it!
  • I don't use instagram but I bought instance to show support for quality development. Will do the same with chatsnap and/or swapchat. Thank you devs! Keep it up!
  • ^^this is awesome. I wish the world had more of you.
  • I told Ben Rudolph the other day, MS need to hire this guy pronto. I didn't use Instagram a whole lot, but I'm all over it since Itsdagram! Thanks Mr Gary :)
  • This guy (the developer) makes me want to develop WP 8 apps. 
  • Its great we have these apps but we need official support too...
  • Looking forward to this. Any dev that dives straight in and develops quality apps that our community crave is simply awesome. This, like Instance, will be a 'buy to try'.
  • Why they never mention Pinsation? lol it's also made by Daniel Gary and it's an excellent Pinterest app! smth like "the men behind Instance and Pinsation"
  • I am genuinely in awe of this guy, who seems to be conducting a one-man crusade to write those "missing" apps which, for some reason, mean an awful lot to some people. I bought Instance, despite not really yearning for it before nor using it since, just because people like this deserve our support. I will buy this too, when it comes out.
  • Thanks Andy!  And yes, I am trying to fill as much of the gap as I can :)  So tired of Windows Phone users not having the popular apps and that being the reason people refuse to come.  I know the official apps mean alot, but at least being able to say we have quality(hopefully) third party alternatives should help.
  • *You are going to be the guy that gave me snapchat! If I get any amazing pics out of it such as a nice looking pussy (like grumpy cat) or a lovely rack (maybe from Ikea?) a pair of tits (blue are my fave, love their feathers) or even just a cute ass (donkey from Shrek springs to mind) then I'll be a happy chappy >:D *snapchats real use innuendo joke
  • I would like my instance for wp 7.x right about now.
  • Hehehehehheheh
  • I would just like to give a thanks to Daniel Gary, Rudy Hyun as well as all the other developers out there making great 3rd party apps for our favorite platform. Forget those big companies who think theyre too good to make an official for us. I'll take these great ones over them any day of the week.
  • Quickchat might be a good name...
  • Daniel Gary, developer of the year?
  • Honestly, the app should not release without ability to detect and notify screen captures. It betrays the trust of unaware user on the other end of the chat and also SnapChat might be aggrieved about it.
  • Where is the source about an official Snapchat app coming soon?
  • I'm guessing the official app probably won't bother with WP7 support so it's great that these unofficial ones will!
  • Hope its free, and for WP 7.5 users
  • I wish I knew how to develop these instagram and snapchat apps. Such a massive hole in the market, Daniel will make an absolute killing from these two apps.
  • This is perfect. The development of these "official" apps destroys that stupid Catch 22 WP has been in! Now people can jump to Windows Phone and get their awesome apps without companies having to risk the development with the small market share. I wouldn't be surprised if the big companies are pretty grateful right now for developers like Daniel Gary and the Swapchat team, testing the waters.
  • Daniel Gary is bad ass! He gave WP a great instagram app as well as a great pintrest app! Thank you buddy!
  • So there will be a poll for a name change for this app too? Would like it!!
  • Thanks Dan for these apps for the WP users.
    But with all your attention in Instance and ChatSnap for WP8 ...
    what about the attention for Instance on 7.8 ??
  • I love Daniel Gary and his work on improving windows phone apps. I have actually never use instance simply as I had instagraph first but if he comes up trumps with snapchat, instance and pinsation are gonna get snapped up straight away!
    I dream of the day daniel gary and rudy huyn team up on something mad!!
  • Whatever happened to this is it still in development?
  • Thats been my question lately. i hope so with swapchat out of the store and no other app is out there to replace it. But also they may not make it BECAUSE of what happened to swapchat. hopefully though theres a workaround
  • Is there a reason why instance has stopped uploading pictures these past 2-3 days?
  • Sooo....this is awkward....