Facebook Live App Filters Update: Masks Similar To Snapchat Lenses Release For Halloween

This Halloween, you don’t need to go to a store to put on a mask. Facebook is rolling out special filters for Facebook Live users allowing them to try on an array of masks, including “limited-edition Halloween themed ones,” when they are sharing a live video. The feature will be available for iOS users in the U.S., U.K., and New Zealand over the next few days with the feature slated to become available for Android users and people from other countries over the next few months.

Some of the masks—which include a pumpkin, witch, skull, and evil queen—will be available after Halloween as well.

How To Use Facebook Live Filters For Halloween

To use, simply select the “Live Video” icon at the top of the Page, Newsfeed or Timeline and tap on the magic wand icon located on the upper left-hand corner of the screen. This will bring forth a variety of mask options in the creative tools tray at the bottom of the screen and users can peruse them to see how they look. Scrolling left in the mask and selecting the no mask sign will remove the mask.

If the feature seems reminiscent of Snapchat lenses, know that it is. Snapchat, which boasts 10 billion daily video views, introduced its “lenses” in September 2015. Earlier this year, Facebook acquired iOS app MSQRD—built by Eugene Nevgen, Sergey Gonchar and Eugene Zatepyakin—which uses facial recognition to place effects (also known as lenses or masks) over faces while recording video selfie animations in real time. MSQRD exists as a standalone app while the technology is being integrated into Facebook Live.

"At Masquerade, we’ve worked hard to make video more fun and engaging by creating filters that enhance and alter your appearance," wrote Nevgen in a blog post at the time. "Now, we’re excited to join forces with Facebook and bring the technology to even more people. Within Facebook, we’re going to be able to reach people at a scale like never before."

In addition to the “masks,” Facebook is also unveiling special Halloween-themed reactions in select countries. “We’re launching a set of limited-edition Halloween reactions that turn the Like, Love, Haha, Wow, Sad and Angry reactions into Halloween-themed symbols that come to life when you tap on them,” said the company in an announcement.

The Halloween themed reactions include: the skeletal thumbs up (Like), the candy heart (Love), the laughing witch (Haha), the ghost (Wow), Frankenstein (Sad), or the scowling pumpkin (Angry). Similar to traditional reactions, the Halloween ones can be used by holding down the “Like” button on mobile devices or hovering over the icon on desktops to trigger a menu of reactions.

This past February, Facebook introduced Reactions—an expanded set of options to convey sentiment outside of the “like” button. The range of responses included in the extension of the Like button are "love," "haha," "wow," "sad," and "angry.”