Facebook has released a new app to challenge TikTok. The product is called Lasso and it will let you create 15-second short videos on your smartphone that you can then share over the app.
On Friday, Facebook quietly released the new product for both Android and iOS. But for now, it's only available for users in the US. "We're excited about the potential here, and we'll be gathering feedback from people and creators," the company told PCMag in an email.
Through the app, you can watch an endless stream of video clips, follow other creators, and discover new content under popular hashtags —or similar to what TikTok offers. When making your videos, you can also pair them with millions of licensed songs from Facebook's extensive music library. So you'll have plenty to work with if you like creating lipsynching videos.
Lasso is a standalone app, but you can log in using your Facebook or Instagram account. Videos you create can also be shared to Facebook's Stories feature, and eventually to Instagram too.
Facebook is launching the new product when TikTok is growing in popularity, especially among teens. The app, which also lets you create 15-second short videos, is owned by China's ByteDance and was launched back in 2016.
In August, ByteDance acquired Musical.ly, another short video social media app, for almost $1 billion. The company then integrated the service with TikTok. Since then, daily app downloads for TikTok appear to have exceeded the downloads for Facebook and Instagram, according to app intelligence firm Sensor Tower.
Although Facebook only launched Lasso today, it appears to be full of content. However, all profiles and videos made in the app are public, so don't expect much privacy.