Facebook to add ‘Boomerang’ and AI-doodling feature to its app
Regardless of what Facebook recently went through, the social media app remains to be among the most popular products in the market at the moment. The company officials, as well as its CEO Mark Zuckerberg, realizes that. Therefore, they are continually working toward making the experience better for users. While they are doing that, the company officials are consistent at releasing new features that ensure that the experience is kept exciting. However, it’s somewhat disappointing that they couldn’t come up with something original of their own. What else would explain the fact that they are releasing newer updates that increasingly look like Snapchat rip-offs? Take, for instance; the social media giant ended up integrating a new ‘Stories’ feature to its platform earlier last year. ‘Stories’ notably, is the primary feature that represents Snapchat as a whole. Even though they blatantly took it on for both, Instagram and Facebook, not much was said about them.
The feature, however, did not end up reaching new heights of Instagram or Snapchat. Users made use of the facility, but it wasn’t as popular as it has been on the photo-sharing app, Snapchat. “Facebook ‘Stories’ may not have reached the heights of Instagram or Snapchat when it comes to things like people using the feature, but that isn’t stopping the social media company from continuing to add to it,” a report by The Verge claims. On the similar lines, the Mark Zuckerberg-led firm is planning a new AR doodling feature. Apart from this, the company will also be bringing Instagram’s looping Boomerang onto the platform.
The news first emerged online when it was officially established by a report of Tech Crunch. AR or Augmented Reality technology has received much popularity in the recent past. It gained fame ever since Apple decided to introduce a smartphone with a dedicated AR feature that helps make the experience better. For those who aren’t aware, the Boomerang feature helps users create videos that play in loops. It is famous mainly among Instagram users as it comes integrated into the application. There’s also a standalone app, but it does not receive as much traction as it does on the photo-editing platform. It was strange enough to observe not be able to take on the feature to Facebook. Even though it took them long enough; the function is finally arriving on Facebook.
Out of the two features that are now rolling out on Facebook, the AR doodling feature seems like the more prominent feature. Reportedly, Facebook is calling the AR doodling feature, ‘3D drawing.’ After the feature is integrated to the platform, users will be able to draw 3D images in AR with the real world as the background. The latest feature looks and feels like it is a part of the application itself.
Notably, the feature was first made popular when Snapchat added it sometime earlier this year. “It looks like a natural extension of the drawing tools that Snapchat first made popularly but taken to a more immersive level,” the report by The Verge further adds. Devotees of Facebook ‘Stories,’ if there are any, might remember that the social media giant attempted to add the looping GIF feature to the app’s camera sometime last year. However, that feature was different in comparison to the Boomerangs. Even though the elements carry out the same task, the two are various facilities. While Boomerang loops end up going back and forth, GIFs only play once. Once the tool is integrating into the application, it will allow users to enjoy the same experience as Instagram.
