Snapchat today turned the tables on Facebook for once by mimicking one of the social media giant's favorite features – your year in review, based on photos and videos posted in the last 12 months.

The feature can be accessed using the memories icon at the bottom of Snapchat's home screen interface. Selecting "A Look Back at 2017" automatically generates a Story around your timeline of pictures, but the arrangement can be tweaked by selecting "Edit Story" and tapping the X on individual snaps to remove them from the collage. The Story can then be saved and shared with friends.

2b46fcfc 01be 455f b7a0 025b480678b0 edit 2017 story

Image via The Verge

As The Verge notes, the "Look Back" feature may not appear if there isn't enough media from the last 12 months to create a story, so only avid Snapchat users are likely to see it.

Facebook continued its seemingly relentless trend of copying Snapchat features last month, when it began testing a new feature that plays on the latter's chat streak challenge, which encourages users to "keep your streak going" when messaging friends.

Prior to that, Facebook created a carbon copy of Snapchat's day-long, vanishing post idea in Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram, which gained 100 million users following the update last year. The company also previously aped Snapchat's face filters and rewinded video features for Instagram, which also proved a hit.

Today's feature debut follows news yesterday that Snapchat is testing a feature that will let users share stories outside of the mobile app, in an effort to boost sign-ups to the app.

Top Rated Comments

Aluminum213 Avatar
96 months ago
When did Facebook invent “a look back” feature? Various apps have been doing this for years
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
EgbertAttrick Avatar
96 months ago
Any chance you could refrain from editorializing in your titles?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacFan23 Avatar
96 months ago
"For once"? They've copied several.

This works both ways just as Ford copied features from Mercedes, Windows copied features from Mac OS, Android copied features from iOS, etc. It's not a bad thing. It's how competitive products get better and the consumer ends up with better options.
For the benefit of those of us who don't use Snapchat, what are the features they've copied?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OldSchoolMacGuy Avatar
96 months ago
For the benefit of those of us who don't use Snapchat, what are the features they've copied?
Ability to go back and look at previous stories along with a number of smaller navigational changes. I'm sure there are others too.

Everyone copies everyone else. I'm not sure why some make such a big deal of it. In the end it only benefits us, the consumer, when a product we use copies something we find useful in another product.

Can you imagine how much it would have sucked if Android didn't copy the iOS interface when the iPhone was originally announced (the original Android plan was not to be all touchscreen but instead to be like Blackberry. They scrapped the entire thing when the iPhone was announced and went about copying much of the Apple design).
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OldSchoolMacGuy Avatar
96 months ago
"For once"? They've copied several.

This works both ways just as Ford copied features from Mercedes, Windows copied features from Mac OS, Android copied features from iOS, etc. It's not a bad thing. It's how competitive products get better and the consumer ends up with better options.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iModFrenzy Avatar
96 months ago
Wait, I thought the "snaps" always disappeared forever
It uses snaps you have saved to your ‘Memories’.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 17 air dummy unbox therapy

iPhone 17 Air's Extreme Thinness Demoed in New Video

Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
iphone 17 dummies sonny dickson

iPhone 17 Air Almost as Thin as Its Buttons, New Images Show

Thursday April 24, 2025 2:14 am PDT by
If you missed the video showing dummy models of Apple's all-new super thin iPhone 17 Air that's expected later this year, Sonny Dickson this morning shared some further images of the device in close alignment with the other dummy models in the iPhone 17 lineup, indicating just how thin it is likely to be in comparison. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be around 5.5mm thick – with a thicker ...
ipad air windows 11 arm

M2 iPad Air Runs Windows 11 ARM via Emulation, Thanks to EU Rules

Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect. As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...