Instagram Reportedly Building Messaging App to Take on Snapchat

Facebook has been trying to emulate Snapchat'southward success with engaging younger audiences for a long time now. The company has been ripping off Snapchat's features on all of its apps in order to brand them more than enticing to an audition that's increasingly spending more fourth dimension within Snapchat than information technology is on Instagram.

Now, co-ordinate to a report from The Verge, Facebook is developing a new messaging app chosen "Threads" that's designed for users to share things with their close friends. The app will reportedly be a companion app to Instagram, and will let users automatically share their location, speed, and status with their shut friends. Plus, obviously, at that place's going to be back up for regular text messaging, and sharing media such as photos and videos.

The Verge says that the app is beingness tested internally at Facebook. They also got a peek at the screenshots from the app, and are reporting that the app looks like it's designed to promote sharing betwixt users and people on their Instagram'south "Close Friends" list.

One skilful thing in the study is that the automated sharing seems to exist an opt-in characteristic instead of an opt-out characteristic, and hopefully Facebook will give it a articulate opt-in screen so users know that they're sharing alive location and more with their friends.

Anyway, The Verge is besides reporting that the Threads app looks very similar to the experience Instagram currently offers in the "Direct" portion of the app, with a defended camera button, a central feed of messages, and green dots representing online friends.

And so far, it'south unclear when (or if) Facebook will launch Threads to the full general public, merely honestly, I'm not sure if I want yet another app for messaging my friends unless it offers something remarkably new; and no, automatically sharing my live location doesn't count as anything other than creepy to me.

Featured Image Courtesy: The Verge