Facebook working on a camera app for sharing photos and videos

Developers at the social media giant Facebook are reportedly working on a stand-alone camera app with a big live-streaming component for users to easily click and share more photos and videos, a media report said.

A prototype of the app developed by Facebook's "friend-sharing" team opens to a camera, similar to disappearing photo app Snapchat.

Another planned feature allows a user recording video through the app to begin live streaming, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The app is just a prototype and the experimental effort may never see a finished public release.

The company's priority is to encourage its 1.6 billion users to not only check Facebook daily but also to share photos, videos and update status about their own lives.

The new camera update differs from Facebook's photo-sharing app Instagram but it also forces users to go through several steps before posting a picture.

The camera app may be successful if it has tight integration of Facebook Live, which is experiencing explosive growth as mobile live-streaming is the new thing trending on Facebook.

The new camera app may help the company compete better with Snapchat - an image-sharing app.

On the contrary, the move may also fail.

Facebook has been making stand-alone apps through its "Creative Labs" division. But none, including Slingshot, Rooms, and Riff were able to reach the level they were supposed to. They were discontinued last December when "Creative Labs" division was shut.

Meanwhile, Facebook declined to comment on development. A spokesperson said the overall level of sharing on Facebook was strong and "similar to levels in prior years".