Snapchat is rolling out a test version of its app to select users with a simplified interface with only three main tabs. 

The company announced this redesign, dubbed “Simple Snapchat,” during its recent Snap Partner Summit.

The new layout removes the Snap Map and Stories tabs from the home screen, consolidating navigation around three core functions: chat, camera, and Spotlight. 

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel told The Verge that this redesign aims to streamline content discovery and user interaction.

In the test version, Stories now appear at the top of the chat tab, while Snap Map is relocated to the bottom. The Spotlight tab, Snapchat’s short-form video feature competing with TikTok, now incorporates content from media brands like The Wall Street Journal and Daily Mail alongside creator content.

Spiegel told The Verge that this new layout will benefit creators by making it easier to grow their Stories audience and monetize through Snapchat’s revenue share program. He added that creators currently share over a billion pieces of content monthly on the platform.

The redesign also introduces a new recommendation algorithm for the Spotlight tab, combining short-form content from creators, brands, and users’ friends into a single scrollable feed.

Snapchat is approaching this update cautiously, given past user backlash. A 2018 redesign that mixed Stories with private messages sparked significant criticism, including a Change.org petition signed by 1.2 million users. In response, the company had to partially revert those changes.

This time, while Stories are again placed in the private messaging section, they have a dedicated, prominent space, which may address previous user concerns.

Snapchat is gradually rolling out this redesign to assess its impact on content dynamics. The company generates most of its revenue from ads displayed alongside this content, making user engagement crucial to its business model.

The company recently launched native support for iPad, 13 years after Snapchat’s initial iOS debut in 2011. The new iPad-optimized version offers users a full-screen experience, providing a larger canvas for capturing Snaps and displaying more friends on the second and fourth tabs. 

In May, Speigel admitted that Snap had “fallen behind the curve on the machine learning side,” which was reflected in business performance.