Facebook Is Once Again Designing An App To Compete Against Snapchat
by Brent Dirks
May 18, 2014
Undeterred after Snapchat turned down a $3 billion acquisition bid late last year, Facebook is working on a competing video chat app. That news comes from The Financial Times.
Internally known as Slingshot, the project reportedly offers a simple and speedy interface. Users can quickly send short video messages with just a few taps. It could launch as early as this month.
Whatever the app’s final name is, it will also be separate from Facebook Messages.
Instead of mirroring Snapchat’s recent update that brought instant messaging and video calling, Facebook’s app is said to resemble a different title, the pictured TapTalk. That new app allows users to tap a friend’s profile picture to quickly send them a photo or video that can only be viewed once.
This isn’t the first time Facebook has tried to take on Snapchat. Launched back in late 2012, Facebook Poke allowed users to send self-destructing messages to their friends.
After languishing in the App Store, Facebook pulled the app last week along with the unpopular Facebook Camera.
For other recent news, see: The AppAdvice Week In Review: Trouble Brewing Between Apple And Google Over iMessages, Can iOS 7.1.1 Be Jailbroken? Hacker Shows Off A New Solution, and Apple Releases iTunes 11.2.1 To Fix Disappearing Users Folder Bug On Mac OS X.
