Facebook accidentally rolls out Snapchat-like Slingshot app for iPhones before pulling it back

From the failed attempt at buying Snapchat to building a clone called Poke, we’ve known about Facebook’s penchant for ephemeral sharing apps for a while now. And now the social network seems to have accidentally rolled out its own Snapchat-like app dubbed Slingshot on the Apple App Store, before subsequently pulling it out.

According to AllFacebook , Apple App Store in Malaysia had a description of the app that reads, “Slingshot lets you quickly share moments—little and big—with all your friends. Shoot a photo or video of what you’re up to and sling it to a bunch of people.”

Facebook has confirmed that the roll out was accidental, further confirming that Slingshot is real after all. A Facebook representative told TheVerge , “Earlier today, we accidentally released a version of Slingshot, a new app we’re working on. With Slingshot, you’ll be able to share everyday moments with lots of people at once. It’ll be ready soon and we’re excited for you to try it out.”

The news site, however, managed to take a good look at the app before it was pulled out. At a glance, Slingshot looks like an exact clone of Snapchat. The major distinguishing factor that sets it apart from Snapchat, TapTalk and others is  ‘is that before you can “unlock” a friend’s message, you must send one back to them.’

“Seemingly, the mechanic is built to encourage users to check in with each other about what they’re doing or looking at. While you’re viewing a message, you also have the opportunity to tap a React button in order to send your reaction back to the sender,” adds The Verge.

A massive  1.8 billion photos  are uploaded and shared each day, according to the latest Mary Meeker report which came out last month. However, it is Snapchat and not Facebook or Intsagram that is the biggest gainer in terms of shares, with over 700 million photos shared through the app. The key highlights of Snapchat are its ability to share images instantly and send ephemeral photos. This pretty much explains why everyone either wants a piece of Snapchat or is busy building Snapchat-like features.

In fact, this is Facebook’s second attempt at building a Snapchat-like app. It had earlier launched the Poke app in 2012, a year after Snapchat. The app was an extension of the popular feature that lets you secretly ‘poke’ your friends for no reason, or for every reason.  However, it  failure to attract users and Facebook finally pulled the plug on the app last month.

Besides Facebook, Yahoo, TapTalk and several others are trying to emulate Snapchat. There are several other Snapchat clones like Confide, Snaphack and Wickr, and we are sure these will not be the last in line.