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Got camera? Facebook adds more Snapchat-like features
by Barbara Ortutay
This image provided by Facebook shows an overview of the features of Facebook's new app update on an iPhone. Facebook is adding more Snapchat-like features to its app, with an update starting Tuesday, March 28, 2017. The company says it wants to let your camera "do the talking" as more people are posting photos and videos instead of blocks of text. (Facebook via AP)
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This image provided by Facebook shows an overview of the features of Facebook's new app update on an iPhone. Facebook is adding more Snapchat-like features to its app, with an update starting Tuesday, March 28, 2017. The company says it wants to let your camera "do the talking" as more people are posting photos and videos instead of blocks of text. (Facebook via AP)
Facebook is adding more Snapchat-like features to its app. The company says it wants to let your camera "do the talking" as more people are posting photos and videos instead of blocks of text.
Facebook is rolling out an app update starting Tuesday. With it, you can tap a new camera icon on the top left corner. That opens up the phone's camera to do a photo or video post. You could have posted photos from the app before, but it took an extra tap.
Once you open the camera, you'll find Facebook's other new Snapchat-like features, including filters that can be added to images.
Other effects, such as animations and other interactive filters, are a new twist to dressed-up photos.
Also new is a "stories" tool that lets you post photos and videos that stay live for 24 hours. This feature is already available on Messenger and Instagram, which is owned by Facebook.
Snapchat pioneered camera-first sharing and is wildly popular with younger users. Years ago, Facebook tried to buy the company but was rebuffed. Since then, it has been trying, with varying degrees of success, to clone Snapchat's most popular features.
It might be working: Snapchat's growth rate has slowed down since Instagram introduced its own "stories" feature.
In this May 16, 2012 file photo, the Facebook logo is displayed on an iPad in Philadelphia. Facebook is adding more Snapchat-like features to its app. The company says it wants to let people's cameras "do the talking" as more people are posting photos and videos instead of blocks of text. With the update coming to users starting Tuesday, March 28, 2017, Facebook is adding a camera icon to the top left corner of its mobile app.. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
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In this May 16, 2012 file photo, the Facebook logo is displayed on an iPad in Philadelphia. Facebook is adding more Snapchat-like features to its app. The company says it wants to let people's cameras "do the talking" as more people are posting photos and videos instead of blocks of text. With the update coming to users starting Tuesday, March 28, 2017, Facebook is adding a camera icon to the top left corner of its mobile app.. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)