Facebook is reportedly working on a standalone Breaking news app which aims to provide breaking news alerts to users. Facebook is making a strong competitor to Twitter with this app. Just like Twitter’s microblog, the newapp will focus mainly on the headlines. Facebook also has a Trending section like twitter but it failed to make a mark like the way Twitter did. Also, the trending topics are slower in Facebook than in Twitter. Hence this application is being designed to excel in the micro-blogging field.
Even though comparison with Twitter is being done by everybody, Facebook made it clear that it might seem to be same as twitter but will vary widely in terms of functionality and features. Here is a screenshot of the layout of the app which was produced by Business Insider:
Check out the features you can expect from the new app:
1. Since the app will be a standalone app, users will need to download the app by Facebook from their respective app stores.
2. Users will have the freedom to choose their own publishers. They can follow their favorite publishers, topics, stations and substations on which they want to receive the breaking news.
3. Right now very few publishers have been linked with the app.
4. Users will receive the alerts in form of notifications from the publishers and it will contain a URL which will direct the users to the publication’s web content.
5. The app will be designed in the similar fashion as a micro-blogging site and will support a maximum of 100 characters of text including the URL .
