Facebook working on a new standalone app to go against TikTok

Facebook seems to be planning to introduce a new application called 'Lasso.' The app will go in direct competition with popular music and creativity platform TikTok, according to the recent reports citing unnamed sources.

The project is said to be headed by company's lead product designer Brady Voss and will have a standalone app that will almost be identical in functionality to Facebook's app. The company aims to simplify things and focus more on lip-syncing and other creative performances by users instead of focusing on some of the other features TikTok offers with its app.

ByteDance-owned TikTok was already a very popular service among the youth prior to its acquisition of one of its lead rivals, Musically, earlier this year. Musically was more focused at sharing videos or live streams of users singing along with or lipsyncing to a wide diversity of music options.

As of now, there is not much information and no timeline has been provided for an eventual launch. That being said, Facebook has always been good at pulling ideas from other popular services and using them for creating standalone experiences.

There's a possibility that Facebook won't rebrand the service completely. Since all of the features leaked are similar to those found with Lip Sync Live, those may just be moved to their own dedicated Android application.

Facebook has previously launched web-based features for mobile before, as it did with Messenger chat service, so it wouldn't be surprising if it introduces a new application called Lasso.

Besides, Facebook is still healing from the hack that put 29 million user accounts at stake, but it may have a solution. According to The Information, Facebook is planning to acquire a 'major' cybersecurity firm and has already offered deals to "several" companies.

If the reports are to be believed, Zuckerberg is likely to buy software that could fold into its existing services, such as tools for giving heads up of hacking attempts or securing individual accounts.

It's still unclear how close Facebook is to confirm the deal, although it could close a purchase by the end of this year. The social media giant is yet to comment on the matter. The acquisition could help the company ramp up its defenses, and improve its expertise to reduce the chances of a coding mistake putting millions of accounts vulnerable.