Snapchat urged to get 'back to basics' as petition to scrap update hits one million

More than a million people have signed an online petition calling on Snapchat to undo a redesign to the app.

The update, which was released last week, separates content and interactions with friends from public and branded content from news services and other businesses.

But users are urging the photo and video-sharing app to revert "back to the basics", slamming the changes as "annoying".

"Many users have found that it has not made the app easier to use, but has in fact made many features more difficult," the petition says.

"There is a general level of annoyance among users and many have decided to use a VPN app, or are using other risky apps or steps, to go back to the old Snapchat as that's how annoying this new update has become.

"Many 'new features' are useless or defeats the original purposes Snapchat has had for the past years."

The petition against the update was started by Australian user Nic Rumsey and posted on the Change.org website.

Snapchat founder and chief executive Evan Spiegel said recently that the firm understood the redesign may take time to be accepted.

"While we are still very early in the rollout, we are optimistic about the potential to unlock additional growth with the redesign of our application," he said.

"As expected, it will take time for our community to get used to the changes, but overall, we are pleased with the initial results."

Users vented their frustration with the changes on Twitter, with some threatening to use other social media platforms.

One person tweeted "@Snapchat HATE the new #update", while another wrote, "think I use snapchat 90% less than what I did before the update".

A user posted: "Snapchat is too confusing now going to have to swap over to Instagram #snapchatupdate #Snapchat #confused."

Another wrote: "Snapchat is so annoying with this update I'd rather post a Facebook story".

Supermodel Chrissy Teigen added her voice to the protests, tweeting, "How many people have to hate an update for it to be reconsidered?"

The backlash comes as it was revealed earlier this week that Facebook is losing younger users to Snapchat in the UK, according to research by eMarketer.

Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst at eMarketer, said of the complaints about the app update: "We're watching users' reaction to Snapchat's redesign very closely, but at this point we don't see it having an impact on usage among young people."