This new app may, at first glance, appear to be Facebook's answer to Snapchat, but Lifestage, the new social networking app for those aged 21 and under, has been developed by 19-year-old programming prodigy Michael Sayman. Coding since the age of 13, the American teen began his career at Facebook as an intern after he came to the company's attention when he created the heavily downloaded iOS photo-charades app 4Snaps.

Video-based app

Sayman worked with a team of Facebook engineers to develop a video-based social networking app for kids his age. The result is Lifestage, an app that connects teens to their friends with a focus on using short video clips to communicate likes, dislikes, moods, favourite foods and so on.

Similar to Facebook's trajectory back in 2004, the app is being launched school by school to create secure, verified networks within which users can communicate. Lifestage is already available for download in the US but has not yet arrived in Ireland or the UK. itunes.apple.com/us/app/lifestage/id1004753218?ls=1&mt=8