Facebook Messenger apes another feature from Snapchat in new update: Camera

Facebook’s Messenger team today announced a new feature and it involves the launch of a new camera. The new camera that’s now available inside the Messenger app lets you add special effects that should add some colour to your holiday conversations. The roll out as always is gradual, and will be arriving on smartphones globally over the coming days. The update is a move by Facebook to turn Messenger into more of visual experience and this adds to the 2.5 billion emojis, photos, stickers and videos that are sent across every day on Messenger.  Another reason for Facebook to switch to a new camera, is to replace the keyboard in an effort to make  sharing photos and videos faster, simpler and obviously more fun and interactive. The new camera packs in quicker access to capture and share your moments as they happen. It can be activated with a single tap on the shutter button, post which a short tap clicks a photo and a long tap (press) starts recording a video.  And with every new camera this year, comes new art and special effects. This time we also have 3D masks and special effects that let you add your artistic touches to the photos and help your express more. There’s even a palette icon that’s placed next to the shutter that will let you take you to a blank canvas where you can add art and stickers to your text. Indeed these are similar to what Snapchat already has on offer. Facebook has been copy pasting features from the messaging service for some time now . While the features often get ripped off from one platform to the another, it is the user who gains the maximum flexibility at the end of the day.