The first of Snap’s new Mini applications rolled out Monday, with tools from meditation app Headspace, part of an initiative “to help support the mental health and emotional wellbeing of Snapchatters,” a Snap spokesperson said in a statement.
Snap Minis are built directly into Snapchat with HTML5, and they work for all users on all devices. They’re available via search and chat and don’t require any installation.
Snapchat announced it was working on Snap Minis last month, and the first four made their debut today, Adweek reports. They include Headspace, Let’s Do It, Prediction Master and Flashcards. Snapchat has also promised Mini versions of Saturn, Tembo, Atom and Coachella.
Snap says its research shows that feelings of anxiety, depression, stress, and other mental health challenges are high among its users, and it found that users usually want to turn to their friends first when dealing with these feelings. “That research helped inform how we designed this Headspace mini we are putting resources front and center where Snapchatters already talk to their close friends, and we hope this new feature will provide a safe space for friends to practice mindfulness, and be able to send encouraging messages to positively boost friends in need,” the spokesperson said.
Snapchat previously said it plans to make more of its camera features available to third-party developers, so outside apps may soon be able to use Snapchat’s augmented reality lenses.
