Slingshot - Facebook's new ephemeral photo/video app

Two questions: 1) Why don't they just take the existing Messenger platform and map the two together? 2) Why can't Facebook get its act together and release apps like this on *both* iOS and Android simultaneously?! They did the same thing with Paper...

@jmover "a bit too simple." --- things no user has ever said about software products. I'm with @ogtfaber, this doesn't even feel like the same space. Broadcast, gimmick to view content (my response matters on what you sent me, not knowing is weird), insane over designed onboarding and edu, preview of photo, no map as part of the content, etc etc... time will tell, iterate fast.

I dig the pixelation effects and thought the on-boarding with their "team" was really effective. Also interesting to see that you can't "upload your phone book" to find matching SMS contacts at least not on Android. Possibly in response to all the brouhaha around Snapchat doing the same.

This whole Slingshot seems like nothing like Facebook - Why can't I just select my FB friends and send the video? - Why should I invite my own FB friends first? Shouldn't they automatically get the notification? - I can invite by SMS/Email and not via FB? Really? I was going to use it, but now I have to wait for my friends to actually use it. I for one know they already use Messenger. So why didn't they integrate with Messenger? So many questions....confused...

So far, the send to unlock feature has made using the app an awful experience for me. It forces me to take photos that I don't really want to share just to unlock content. Receiving new content is a big hassle rather than a delight because I have to share something back before I see the content that I want to see. It also makes the majority of the "pre-replies" that I have gotten suck. It takes the excitement out of getting a response because it isn't a genuine response. I know the one sided nature of snapchat can be less than ideal but this seems like an overboard attempt to try and solve that.

@abiekatz I had the same experience - I just took pictures of tables and the floor just to see what people have sent me. It seems like a good idea in theory but it's poor in practice. The app is a little weird and confusing to use, too, since it doesn't link into FB at all

You're not seasoned product hunters if you haven't worked out how to switch app stores yet :P [If you're not on the US store, just switch to it – select 'None' under payment info and fake the phone number/Zip.] Initial impressions: Facebook are trying too hard. Their on-boarding videos are nice, I guess – they did the same with Paper – but soon they'll realise that packing animations and sound effects doesn't replace the need to solve a problem. Certainly not if they intend on users coming back over time. Likewise, the concept of 'locked' photos doesn't feel genuine somehow. Rather they've sat down and thought, "how are we going to beat SnapChat?" It's dressed up as a cool feature but really they were just solving for the best engagement hack. Even if I'm wrong, if successful this mechanism would create the behaviour of replying to a message you haven't yet seen. In itself, a long shot (pun intended) to expect that to catch on. Who knows, maybe this is what everyone's been waiting for..

@abiekatz @ow couldn't agree more. I just had a "test convo" with a friend and it became an unrewarding hassle pretty quickly. There's also no graceful way to end the conversation. I stopped sending pictures and now I have that little red 1 staring at me in my "Social" folder. I don't see why people would use this over snapchat or taptalk

This is the Sam Bowie of apps.

Hi all! I read through each and every comment here and thought I'd add my two cents the best way I know how: http://www.useronboard.com/how-s... Enjoy!