Facebook launches group video chat app Bonfire

Facebook has its toes in all kinds of water now. The social networking company took over Instagram, bought over WhatsApp messenger, experimented with bots on Facebook Messenger, has big bucks invested in tech education firm Byju, and many such different ventures. And now, Facebook has quietly released a group video chat app on iOS called Bonfire in Denmark. This app was first spotted by The Next Web.
 
As the name makes it pretty much clear, the app allows user to hold video chats with several participants simultaneously. TNW got hold of the app and found that Bonfire lets users adorn themselves with several Snapchat-style effects, as well as share pictures from the chats through Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger. Interestingly, the publication reports that the people a user invites receives notifications, both within Messenger and their Facebook profiles.
 
According to Adam Blacker of app analytics firm Apptopia, Bonfire is currently only available in Denmark, and has been downloaded roughly 2,000 times. He explained that Denmark “typically has good user retention,” which he says makes it an ideal test market for new products.”
 
This feature kind of makes sense for Facebook, considering its constant push for video content on all its platforms. Facebook recently added support for multiple people to join a live video on the platform simultaneously. Facebook also increased the duration of live earlier this year on its platform.

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