Facebook on Thursday pushed out an update to its Slingshot photo messaging service and app, allowing users to bypass the "reply-to-unlock" mechanic by replying to "reactions" with photos, video or text.
Source: Slingshot blog
version 1.1 looks to loosen restrictions on the "reply-to-unlock" mode of operation, which in many situations required users to respond to an unrelated post if they wanted to carry on a conversation.
With the latest version, users can now respond to a reaction with a photo, video or text.
For example, in the above Slingshot conversation taken from the service's official blog, Joey first sends a picture of a shop, which Drew unlocks by slinging back a photo. Once the photo is unlocked, Slingshot allows Joey to post a "reaction," which in this case was the question, "What shop is this?"
Prior to today's update, Drew's options for reply would be to send a new photo to be unlocked, or react to a different shot from Joey, if one existed. The method was cumbersome and made long back-and-forth conversations difficult.
In addition to the reactions-to-reactions feature, Slingshot now links with Facebook and Address Book contacts for friend discovery. Finally, a new My People tab organizes ongoing conversations in one place for quick access.
Slingshot version 1.1 is available now as a free 11MB download from the App Store.