Facebook Inc (FB) Revamps Slingshot With Many New Features

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Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) launched Slingshot with the hope of competing with Snapchat, but that did not happen. As a result, the company is now making efforts to improve the app and make it more attractive for users. As mentioned by the company in a blog post, the social network has added some new and attractive features and removed the not-so happening ones. So we can say the mobile app has been completely redesigned.

Facebook Inc (FB) Revamps Slingshot With Many New Features

More convenience for users

The redesigned app has several features that are user-friendly and attractive as well. The updated Facebook app now just requires two taps from the user to send looping videos and full-screen photos. They also have an option to choose from five filters and add drawings and captions. Just like the Frontback app, there is an option of adding a reaction shot as well.

“We understand that improving a product isn’t only about what you add, but about what you remove, so we made a simpler, cleaner, more fun Slingshot,” the blog post said.

All the photos sent by a user can now be shared on the major social networks, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR). Also users can look back at all the photos they have sent. It is also possible for a user to see the content that has been received and sent in the last 24 hours, provided it hasn’t been wiped away. This new feature from Facebook is an answer to the “My Story” feature in Snapchat, which is basically a reel with photos and videos that can be added by users.

Facebook hopes for better ranking now

Finding and following other people with interesting content also becomes possible now with the help of another new feature added by the Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) team. Now users are allowed to manually approve followers’ requests received by them, and they can also choose to set notifications for specific friends.

Slingshot’s download ranking has been on a persistent fall since its launch on the iOS and Android platforms. App Genie states that as of Dec. 3, 2014, the app held the positions of 601 and 460 on iOS and Android respectively. The redesigned app is a major improvement over the original version and has the capacity of resonating better with users. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) will be hoping that the popularity and usage of Slingshot will get enhanced after these updates, but we will have to wait for some time before the results are visible.

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