Apple, for all its ability to sell us phones and tablets, doesn’t seem to “get” some parts of the tech industry. Just ask any gamer, or, for that matter, social media fans: Remember Ping, Apple’s attempt to turn iTunes into the Facebook of music? But Apple has seen the value in Snapchat-like features already, and it might be pushing further into the app’s turf.
Unlike a lot of Apple rumors, the Snapchatting of Apple is already well under way. iOS is already cribbing from the app, adding tweaks like the ability to send texts “loudly” or “softly” and including interactive features like “grit,” which you have to swipe away to read the message. But Bloomberg states Apple is thinking about adding more features to text messages and video:
…Apple is starting to develop a video sharing app that allows users to record video, apply filters and drawings to the media — much like Snapchat does — and send it to contacts or via existing social networks such as Twitter Inc., according to the people familiar with its development. The software is currently being designed to be used mostly with one hand and with the intention that video could be shot, edited, and uploaded in less than 1 minute. At least one of the prototype designs for the app would shoot video in an Instagram-like square shape.
In other words, this mystery app, whatever Apple might call it, would be a heck of a lot like Snapchat, but easier to access. In fact, it seems unlikely Apple would bother making this a separate app, and more likely to incorporate it as a feature set into iMessage and its video and camera functions. And if this holds true, it’s big trouble for Snapchat.
Snapchat is already struggling with problems, not the least of which is user backlash over the racism found in some of the company’s filters. Facebook, having been rebuffed by the company for not offering it enough billions of dollars, is cribbing the app’s ideas instead. Not to mention social media is, at best, volatile; Whisper and Ello are just two recent examples of how quickly a site can be forgotten. If Apple is showing up to push it out, Snapchat will need to figure out how to push back, and fast.
(Via Bloomberg)
