Snapchat Update: What is unviewed story or unseen story?

The custom story feature of Snapchat allows users to create a story and add friends to view and contribute to it.

US-based multimedia instant messaging platform Snapchat boasts millions of active users across the globe and is among the most loved apps in many countries. Snapchat helps users share images, videos, and direct messages with their friends. In May this year, Snapchat had rolled out a new 'Shared Stories' feature that made it easier for users to collaborate and share memories. The feature was rolled out as a part of the already existing 'Custom Stories' feature. The custom story feature of Snapchat allows users to create a story and add friends to view and contribute to it. 

The stories feature allows users to post photos/videos on their profile that can be viewed by a list of people that users choose. The updates disappear after 24 hours just like the WhatsApp status.

Snapchat users can also upload photos of their memory in the 'my eyes only' section which is a password-protected area to store photos. 

The rumour mills have been abuzz with reports related to the Snapchat update. Recently, some users claimed to have received notifications reading ‘unviewed story’ or 'unseen story' alongside the username of one of their contacts. However, many of the users were not aware of the feature.

The ‘unviewed story’ or 'unseen story' notification as the name suggests is meant to notify users about one of their contacts who has posted a story that the user may not have seen yet. Through the notification, the app gave a reminder to the user to view the story before it disappears once 24 hours duration is completed. 

When the users received the Snapchat notification, they thought that a user from their contacts had ‘unviewed’ a story posted by the user himself. However, it's not possible to undo or remove one's view from any story once the user has seen it.