WhatsApp just updated the application with additional features for chatting and sharing multimedia. WhatsApp has introduced stickers used by Twitter and Snapchat. The sticker set is called Twemoji, made by Twitter Open Source and is available for use by anyone under an MIT and Creative Commons license. The stickers can be slapped on to videos and images. Text can be added on top of the multimedia shares as well, with options to change the font and colours.
Spot the difference: Snapchat on the left and WhatsApp on the right.
Users can draw directly onto the image as well, in various colours. Multiple stickers can be layered onto an image, along with the drawings. The stickers can be dragged around, rotated and the pinching gesture can be used to resize. There is a colour gradient available that can colour the stickers and text, and these have more colours on offer than Snapchat. Additionally, WhatsApp allows users the option to use speech and thought bubbles as well.
Speech and thought bubble stickers
The patch notes strangely enough, does not mention the Snapchat inspired drawing and stickers feature at all, which seem to be the most important new features in this round of updates. It is now possible to forward the same message to multiple chats at once. The forwarding or sharing menu has been tweaked, so that the most frequently contacted people on groups show up on top of the listing. While recording videos, it is now possible to slide up and down to zoom in and out. Double tapping while recording a video now rapidly switches between front camera and back camera.
There is now a front facing screen flash feature. The screen goes brighter when taking a selfie in low light conditions. The new features are being rolled out around the world. The move follows a series of efforts where Facebook’s properties are borrowing features from Snapchat.
Facebook has not cloned the Spectacles. Yet.
Facebook Live is in the process of getting augmented reality overlays. The ‘Messenger Day’ feature being tested, is Facebook’s implementation of a feature very similar to the ‘Stories’ feature in Snapchat. Instagram already introduced the Stories feature, an obvious and deliberate copy of Snapchat. In Brazil and Canada, Facebook is testing a selfie first home screen similar to the one used by Snapchat. One of Facebook’s early attempts and an image oriented social media chatting app with self destructing messages was Slingshot, which lost its fight against Snapchat. Looks like Facebook will stop at nothing to feed its obsession of owning a Snapchat like app.
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