Facebook rumored to be working on a Snapchat app of its own

Earlier this year Facebook acquired Instagram and the social network’s interest in the mobile scene has never been a secret, so we guess it’s not surprising to learn that the company is said to be cooking up a new app that is similar to popular app, Snapchat, and it could even see a release in the next few weeks, possibly before 2012 is out. For those unfamiliar, Snapchat is an app that allows users to snap a photo and share it with friends for a predefined period of time before the photo is deleted. It’s a great way to share photos with friends or family that you wouldn’t want to clutter your Facebook albums with, and at the same time “guarantee” (there’s always the screenshot function to ensure permanency) that it will be deleted after a certain amount of time.

Looking at the possibility from Facebook’s perspective, it’s one of the ways that Facebook can help in terms of privacy. As it stands users can allow certain groups of people access to certain parts of their profile, for example only people they categorize as “family” or “close friends” might be allowed to view their entire profile, while others might only be able to see basic information and a profile photo. If Facebook were to launch a Snapchat of their own, it could help to augment the privacy feature even further. Either way we’ll keep our eyes peeled for more information on this alleged app, so check back with us at a later date for the details. In the meantime for those interested in checking out Snapchat, it is available for free via the iTunes App Store.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones, Photo-Video, Rumors
Tags: Apps, Facebook, Snapchat