If at first you don’t succeed…
Facebook may have recently pulled its Snapchat-like Poke app from the iOS App Store, but the social network is gearing up to take another swipe at the messaging giant later this month, according to a new claim by the Financial Times. Facebook’s new app, currently dubbed “Slingshot” interally, will enable users to send short video messages to one another.
In 2012, Facebook launched its own Snapchat rip-off called Poke, which borrowed its name from an entirely separate feature that had been available on Facebook’s website for years. When Poke failed to attract a significant number of users, Facebook forgot about it and let it sit idle for nearly three years before removing it from the App Store.
While messages sent through the main Facebook client sync with messages sent through the website and Messenger application, the Financial Times says that Slingshot—like Poke—will not actually be integrated with other Facebook offerings. Videos sent through the Slingshot app will only be available to other users with the software.
The app is said to be ready to ship, but there’s one small detail still holding up its release: no one at Facebook has actually approved the launch yet. Until that happens, the app will remain under wraps—possibly forever.
