London, Feb 13 (IANS): Snapchat's latest redesign, which was released last week, has not gone down well with many users. This is evident from the fact that an online petition calling for removal of the new update has attracted more than than 6 lakh signatures.

The "Remove the new Snapchat update" petition, which is hosted on Change.org, was authored by Australian user Nic Rumsey, the Guardian reported on Tuesday.

The popular photo-sharing app's latest redesign focused on separating "media content" from that of "friends" among an array of other interface changes.

With the new changes, Snapchat Stories, which are videos and photos shared among users that vanish after one day, also now appear with individual Snaps and direct messages.

"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 reads.

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

"This petition aims to help convince Snap Inc to change the app back to the basics, before this new 2018 update," it says.

But the pleas and complaints may fall on deaf ears as the app's parent firm Snap Inc appears to have no plans to reconsider the original design as of now.

"Updates as big as this one can take a little getting used to, but we hope the community will enjoy it once they settle in," a Snap Inc spokeswoman was quoted as saying.