One of the most popular apps in China right now is called Snow.
The app has been download over 30 million times in Asia since it was released last September, according to The New York Times.
The only problem: It appears to blatantly rip off Snapchat's features and design. It's particularly popular in China where Snapchat is currently banned from working.
The Times said that a spokesman for Snow "acknowledged it was similar to Snapchat, but said Snow had unique features like video chat."
Snapchat declined to comment about Snow to Tech Insider or say whether it had plans to pursue litigation against Snow's South Korean parent company, Naver.
We took Snow for a spin to see what all the hype is about, and just how similar the two products are.
Snow's likeness to Snapchat starts out in the App Store description, where it calls messages "snaps" and encourages you to post to your "Story."
Snapchat coined the noun "snaps" for messages in its app along with Stories, which are compilations of snaps you post for others to watch.
You can sign up for Snow using your Facebook account or email. The app can also connect to a Line account. (The same company behind Snow owns Line, a popular messaging app in Japan.)
Just about everything in Snow's interface seems to resemble Snapchat, from Stories to Stickers. In both examples below, Snow is on the left and Snapchat is on the right.
Snow opens to the camera, just like Snapchat.
You swipe to the side to see your friends and list of Stories, just like Snapchat. Swiping to the other side shows your private messages with friends too.
The only real difference is that Snow reverses the swipe directions to get to chat and your Story page. Innovation!
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