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Snapchat has launched a feature that enables up to 16 people to take part in a live chat together, using either video or just their voices.

The app's members can also start tagging each other by username, using the @ symbol in their posts.

The changes will roll out over the coming weeks, the firm said.

Snapchat came under fire for a recent redesign. A petition calling for the changes to be reversed .

At the weekend, Snapchat's first TV advert aired in the US. Observers noted that it seemed to strike a family-friendly chord.

"Snapchat's early growth has been largely been built on attracting a strong youth-centric audience," commented Jack Kent from IHS Markit consultancy.

"To grow its user numbers it needs to broaden its appeal to a wider audience.

"The key challenge... is how to add older users without losing the cool factor that helped fuel its early growth."

However, news site The Verge .

"Snapchat is the place where you trade dumb jokes with your friends, non-essential thoughts, or show off the trashy nights you don't want preserved past a five-second timer," wrote Megan Farokhmanesh.

"Its feeble attempts to win over everyone either misunderstands its own product at its core, or signals a desire to re-frame that product as a second-string replacement for platforms that already exist."

Snapchat and its parent company Snap have faced criticism in recent weeks.

In February 2018, $1.3bn (£1bn) was wiped after reality TV star Kylie Jenner tweeted that she no longer used the service.

And after an ad appeared on its platform for a third-party game that asked users if they would "rather slap Rihanna or punch Chris Brown".

Chris Brown was convicted of assaulting the singer in 2009.