If you're new to the platform in particular, you might be wondering why you can't have it. After all, iPhone and Android owners have it, right?
With there being no hope for the third-party offerings we did have, here's a run down of the tale of Snapchat and Windows Phone.
No official app
That's the first and most important thing in this whole story. Snapchat doesn't have an official app for Windows Phone. And it doesn't look like it plans to have one any time in the foreseeable future.
But why is that?
Snapchat CEO, Evan Spiegel, evidently doesn't care much for Windows Phone.
Then there was the time you could request support for your currently unsupported device. And then there was the time that went away. Whatever the actual reason behind it, the only official way to pressure Snapchat for an app disappeared into the night.
Will that ever change? Will Snapchat ever relent and release an official app for Windows Phone? We're not holding our breath.
The tale of the third-party
Where official support is lacklustre, or completely absent, the excellent Windows Phone developer community often comes through. Instagram is a fine example of this. Despite having an official app, it's been over a year since it was updated and there are third-party solutions that offer a much better experience.
So, in the absence of Snapchat, enter the likes of Swapchat, 6Snap and a few others.
6Snap in particular went on to become a community favorite. Developer, Rudy Huyn, is a committed and talented Windows Phone developer. As with his Instagram app, 6Tag, 6Snap arguably had a better overall user experience than the official Snapchat apps on other platforms.
Support from source is something we'd always welcome. But as long as there's a good solution, it's not the end of the world.
So what happened?
Snapchat had some security issues. After a huge number of users photos were stolen and posted online, Snapchat clamped down on allowing third-party services access.
Apps such as 6Snap used reverse-engineered APIs to get them into Snapchat. And it was third-party apps that were ultimately responsible for the security breach.
So, in a not totally unjustifiable move, Snapchat started to clamp down on its users not sending their Snaps through official channels. First by offering a warning, then by locking accounts, and then the biggest blow of all, having third-party apps removed from the Store.
And that means as of right now, Windows Phone has no Snapchat. At all.
The future
Snapchat was supposedly developing a public API of some sort. But that still hasn't materialized. And despite the best efforts of people like Rudy Huyn, Snapchat doesn't want to know.
So, the future, if you're a Snapchatter, is bleak on Windows Phone. It's a sad state of affairs, but it's the world we live in. What would it take for Snapchat to give in and make an app? Who knows.
A change of attitude towards the platform would be top of the list.
