Snap is still losing users, blames its Android app

Snapchat’s poor Android app is still proving to be a major problem for the company.

The app lost users for the second straight quarter, with its daily active users declining by 2 million, and Snapchat’s lackluster Android app may be to blame.

“The decline was primarily among Android users,” CEO Evan Spiegel said in his prepared remarks during the company’s third-quarter earnings call.

It’s not the first time the Snapchat founder has specifically called out the company’s Android app on an earnings call. The company has been talking about improving Android for almost a year. 

A new and improved Android app “rebuild,” known internally by its nickname “Mushroom,” has been promised for months. But the company has said little about the long-awaited update. App researcher Jane Manchun Wong uncovered a version of the new Android app back in August, but the app has yet to materialize publicly.

Though investors pushed Spiegel on when the app would be ready, the CEO remained cagey on a timeline.

“Quality takes time,” he said. “We want to make sure we have the right foundation…we’re going to wait until we get it right.”

The reason why investors are so anxious, of course, is because Snap had a second straight quarter of losing users, with its daily active users down to 186 million, compared with 188 million the previous quarter.

It’s a worrying trend for the company, which has also been battling an unpopular redesign that sank its DAUs last quarter. 

But there were signs of good news for Snap, too. The company did better than expected on revenue, with $298 million in revenue, up 14 percent from last quarter and 43 percent from the same time last year.

The company also touted its original content in Discover, saying its new Snap Originals represent a big opportunity.