After a failed attempt to go social with Ping in 2010, Apple may have a renewed sense of excitement over the social space, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Sources told Bloomberg that Apple is working on a video recording/editing app that would be similar in functionality to Snapchat, though there’s no mention of disappearing or self-destructing content in the report. Instead, the app is supposed to be easy to use with one hand for video recording, and users will be able to swipe between various filters or add drawings.
The main goal is that users will be able to create and edit videos within a minute.
One of the filters is said to be an Instagram-sized square, instead of the native rectangle on the iPhone, though Apple’s camera software already has that functionality built in. So…?
The ultimate hope is that people would use the app, which is being built by the same folks who built iMovie and Final Cut Pro, to create the content to share with other social networks.
Bloomberg reports that Apple is not clear-cut on when (or even if) this app will launch, or whether or not it will live as part of iOS or as its own standalone app.
For the first time in a long time, Apple’s iPhone isn’t shattering sales expectations quarter after quarter, so an enhanced focus on services business makes sense. However, you’d expect Apple to double down on existing, and potentially quite lucrative, businesses like Apple Pay, Music, and iTunes rather than diving into social, where so much land has already been claimed in the name of Facebook and Snapchat.
Then again, this report could be about a content creation app that complements social networks, as opposed to being its own full-fledged social network like the now-deceased Google Plus.
Or… this report could be about nothing. Apple is highly secretive, and it wouldn’t be the first time someone floated a rumor that never came to be.
We’ll have to wait, likely much longer than we’ll be waiting to see the next iPhone, to find out the truth.
