#4 Times When Global Tech Companies have Shown Lack of Innovation Copy pasting ideas is not always great for your company.
By Nidhi Singh
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Startups love to say that they believe in innovation. Still, some companies are taking jabs at each other by copying designs and features like recently Facebook has added one of the most popular Snapchat feature on its messenger app. Big companies are raising their game by pulling the popular features from the other company in order to keep up with the competition. Original ideas are extremely rare and there hasn't been a tech device or app in the market recently that is entirely innovative.
Let's have a look at the 4 harsh ways companies have aped each other in order to raise up their bar:
Facebook vs. Snapchat - Drawing Inspiration From Features:
Facebook introduced picture and videos feature into Messenger Day (launched inside Messenger App) and status feature in WhatsApp that are an exact copy of Snapchat's Stories function. Facebook has previously copied stories feature for Instagram through which one can create text, photo and videos that disappear after 24 hours.During the first week of march, Whatsapp introduced a new status feature called WhatsApp Status stories, which is being pulled down now after facing a severe backlash from its users. The Facebook - owned App will bring back the old text status feature soon.
The new stories feature introduced by Facebook on Messenger day will only be new to users not using Instagram and Snapchat at all.
When Twitter Mimicked Facebook By Replacing Its Stars With Hearts:
In 2015, Twitter announced the news of replacing their "favorite" button with a "like" button in the shape of a heart. The icon was quite similar to that one on Instagram and Facebook. The feature came when Facebook was talking about introducing the reaction emoji, with an option of giving users a new way to express what they feel about the content they watch. But this is not the first time when Twitter and Facebook have a few jabs at each other. In 2014 Facebook introduced Twitter's trending feature by creating a specific trending section on its platform. Later Instagram also rolled out a similar feature that gives insights on popular hashtags used on the platform.
When Huawei Introduced the Force Touch Feature Before Apple :
Though Apple was the first one to introduce Force Touch technology in a smartwatch, but Huawei became the first company to use this technology inside a phone. Just a week before Apple's iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus launch, Huawei introduced the Force Touch display in its new Mate S smartphone. The Mate S uses Force Touch and a new feature called Knuckle Sense to distinguish between input from fingertips or knuckles.
Viber Cloning Snapchat's Key Feature:
Instant messaging and VoIP app Viber has added a new feature called Secret Chats, which is based on the Snapchat's key messaging feature that got the company fame and success. The app received an update, which enables users to set a timer for their messages after which they will disappear itself. Another feature similar to Snapchat on Viber alerts a user if the person they are talking to takes a screenshot.
