Instagram is prepping for the launch of a new photo messaging app, Bolt.
Instagram, the Facebook-owned popular photo sharing site, briefly got its users' attention when it accidentally showed a new app banner on the Android app. The post appeared on top of the Instagram app for Android users, Wednesday night, before it was taken down abruptly. The popular photo sharing service teased a new photo messaging app it aptly called "Bolt." The tag line "One tap photo messaging" suggests the unannounced app is a Snapchat competitor.
Along with the Bolt banner, Instagram also added a "Free" button. But inquisitive users who spotted the ad reached a dead-end with the Google Play Store link. The brief leak was quickly shared by users on Twitter, along with screenshots. But the details on Bolt photo messaging app are scarce at the moment.
Richard Groves, one of the few people to spot the new banner ad, told The Verge that the Bolt ad first appeared on his Instagram app on Nexus 5 at around 11 p.m. ET Wednesday and was taken down 15 minutes later.
What is this, @instagram? #bolt pic.twitter.com/orbOIDU215
— Richard Groves (@englishinvader) July 24, 2014
If the Bolt app is indeed true, this is the second time Facebook has carelessly let the news slip out of its secret lab. Earlier in May, reports of the new ephemeral messaging app Slingshot came to light. The app briefly appeared in select app stores in June, before Facebook officially launched it a week later. And now the news of Bolt adds to the company's pre-launch leaks. That's quite a few unofficial leaks from the company.
Of late, Facebook has been focusing on improving its overall services. The social network site recently faced flak for conducting a secret psychology experiment on more than 600,000 users. But the company is trying to win its users' trust by coming up with attractive features and apps. Earlier this month, the company began testing a "buy" option for users to purchase items directly from the ads in News feeds. It also launched a new app called "Mentions" for the iOS platform, focusing mainly on celebrities and public figures. The app aims to allow celebs, actors, public figures engage better with their fans any time.
Facebook isn't the only company investing in the messaging arena, other messaging apps are also looking to improve their services to attract new users. Asia's popular messaging app, Line, added a new "hidden message" feature to allow sharing of private messages. With the growing popularity of ephemeral messages, it is quite clear Facebook wants a share with its upcoming Bolt app.
