Facebook's Slingshot app arrives on iOS and Android in the UK

SOCIAL NETWORK Facebook's Snapchat competitor Slingshot is now available in the UK.

While Facebook Paper still isn't available in the UK more than four months since its US release, the social network announced on Wednesday that Slingshot is now available in Blighty - just a week after it debuted in the US.

Facebook said on its Slingshot website, 'Since we launched last week, we've heard from lots of people around the world who are excited to give Slingshot a try. Starting today, we're expanding our initial launch and making Slingshot available internationally!'

Slingshot is now available to download for free from both the iTunes App Store and Google Play, and is compatible with devices running iOS 7 and Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and above.

Facebook's Slingshot is nearly identical to rival dinkle-image-sharing service Snapchat, which the firm once looked to buy for a cool $3bn, although Facebook has added a unique feature that requires users to send friends an image back before they can view a message.

Facebook said in a blog post, 'We've enjoyed using Snapchat to send each other ephemeral messages and expect there to be a variety of apps that explore this new way of sharing. With Slingshot, we saw an opportunity to create something new and different: a space where you can share everyday moments with lots of people at once.'

Much like Snapchat, however, Slingshot allows users to send photos and videos to friends that disappear once they have been viewed, add captions and doodle on images.

Facebook has yet to cough on how popular Slingshot has been since its recent US launch, but if Google Play's statistics are anything to go by, it has already been downloaded more than 10,000 times in the UK. µ