Get ready to see more silly selfies.
Facebook is buying the company behind one of the most popular apps in the App Store, Masquerade.
Masquerade's app lets you overlay playful, animated filters over your face using your phone's selfie camera. The effects range from Leonardo DiCaprio at the Oscars (right) to a monkey, and they're fun to play with. You can record video in the app or take a still photo to share on other social networks.
Expect Masquerade's face swapping filters to show up in the Facebook app eventually.
The social network also plans to keep Masquerade operational as a standalone, free app, as well as integrating its technology into Facebook. The effects join a line of creative tools Facebook has added to its app already, like stickers, finger doodles, and photo filters.
MSQRD and Facebook are not disclosing the price of the deal, but interestingly, it was only two weeks ago that an investor out of Russia, Eugene Gordeev, posted that MSQRD was getting acquired by Apple for about $117 million. It was a pure hoax, Gordeev confirmed .MSQRD, which had been based out of Belarus, will continue to release its app as a standalone product.
Masquerade has been a hit in its short time on the App Store. It has an average rating of 5 stars and has consistently stayed near the top of the App Store's charts, according to App Annie. It's also available on Android phones.
"At Masquerade, we’ve worked hard to make video more fun and engaging by creating filters that enhance and alter your appearance," the couple-month-old-startup said in a blog post. "Now, we’re excited to join forces with Facebook and bring the technology to even more people. Within Facebook, we’re going to be able to reach people at a scale like never before."
The news is an interesting development in the bigger competition among messaging apps to capture more audience in an increasingly tight market.
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