Facebook Reportedly Developing Standalone Camera App Featuring Livestreaming Mode

Facebook is reportedly developing a standalone camera app, which could help the social network get more users to share self-created content, and encourage them to use its burgeoning livestreaming platform, Live.

An app prototype is currently being developed by Facebook’s ‘friend-sharing’ team, according to The Wall Street Journal. The app promptly opens to a camera screen — à la Snapchat. And another feature would immediately allow users to fire up a live broadcast. The app is in very early stages, according to the Journal, which was first to report its development, and might not ever even be released.

The app could also make use of Facebook’s acquisition of MSQRD, a live selfie filter app that, like Snapchat’s popular lenses feature, allows users to swap faces or transform themselves with visual effects on their front-facing cameras.

The app rumors arrive at a time when personal and original Facebook sharing was down 21% in mid-2015 compared with the year prior, according to The Information. Instead, Facebook’s 1.6 billion users are more apt to re-share videos, articles, and photos that they’ve discovered across the web. Sources told the Journal that the app would serve to encourage users to create and share more personal content.

It could also encourage users to embrace Facebook’s livestreaming service — a chief focus for the social network as of late. The company recently announced several new features for the platform, and has also hinted at forthcoming monetization opportunities for creators.