March 2016 – Filters
One of the first signs that Facebook was copying Snapchat was in March 2016 when they bought MSQRD, an app that overlays silly live filters on your selfies.
The app allows users to apply filters to their faces, similar to Snapchat’s “Lens” filters.
One of the first signs Facebook was copying Snapchat was in March 2016 when they bought MSQRD, an app that overlays silly live filters on your selfies. The app allows users to apply filters to their faces (pictured right), similar to Snapchat’s “Lens” filters (pictured left)
April 2016 – QR Codes
In April last year, Facebook added QR codes to profiles in Messenger.
Snapchat uses QR codes to allow people to add other users without having to search.
December 2016 – Location-based filters and in-app camera
Facebook introduced location-based custom camera filters that overlap images and videos, similar to Snapchat’s “geo filters”.
Users build “frames” on any design platform, send them to Facebook, and then friends nearby will have access to the creations.
In the same month, a “Messenger Camera” was designed to make it faster to take and share photos and videos without having to leave a conversation, a feature that already existed on Snapchat.
In December, Facebook introduced location-based custom camera filters (pictured right) that overlay images and videos, similar to Snapchat’s “geo filters” (pictured left)
March 2017 – Stories
In March, Facebook introduced Facebook Stories along with two other new Snapchat-like features: Facebook Camera and Direct.
Facebook Stories highlight decorative content in a horizontal layout on the news feed that disappears in 24 hours, just like Snapchat Stories.
Facebook Stories (pictured right) highlight decorative content in a horizontal layout on the news feed that disappears in 24 hours, just like Snapchat Stories (pictured left)
The section of the app called “Direct” appears to be very similar to Snapchat’s feed for one-to-one group messaging.
The update encourages users to use Facebook’s camera feature and also allows them to put friends’ stories on top of their news feed.
In the same month it also introduced “Messenger Day,” which allows users to share photos and videos with illustrated filters and stickers that vanish in 24 hours, just like Snapchat Stories.
November 2017 – Series
In November, Facebook copied Snapchat by testing a new feature that encourages friends to text back and forth for consecutive days.
Like “Snapstreaks” on Snapchat, Facebook Messenger’s “Streaks” has emojis next to the name of whoever users are texting on a regular basis.
According to Facebook, this will encourage users to “keep your streak going”.
In March, Facebook introduced “Messenger Day,” which allows users to share photos and videos with illustrated filters and stickers that vanish in 24 hours, just like Snapchat Stories.
January 2018 – screenshot
In January, Instagram, the Facebook-owned app, began testing a feature that lets your followers know if you’ve taken a sneaky screenshot of their story.
The Snapchat-inspired feature is expected to launch on the image sharing platform soon and is currently being tested in Japan.
May 2018 – Bitmoji
As with Filters, Snaps, and Stories, Facebook has revealed that it is duplicating the Bitmoji feature used on Snapchat.
Within the code of the Facebook Android app, the developers found an unprecedented feature that allows users to “build customized, illustrated versions of themselves to use as stickers in Messenger and comments.”
November 2021 – Rage Shake
Instagram copied Snapchat with the launch of a feature called “Rage Shake”.
Users just need to shake their phone with the Instagram app open and a small pop-up appears allowing them to report an annoying glitch.
It’s very similar to Snapchat’s “Shake to Report”, which already allows users to shake their smartphone to report a bug.
