It ’s a sad day for standalone apps . After Dropbox announced it is exclude down Mailbox and Carousel , Facebook is pulling the plug on its rooms of standalone apps .
According to CNET , Facebook is quietly shut out down its Creative Labs air division . Creative Labs was task with creating unique standalone apps that experimented with Facebook ’s social capability but also lived beyond the internet . On Monday , Facebook pull three Creative Labs apps from the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store .
The affected apps includeSlingshot , a Snapchat - similar messaging app;Riff , for “ riffing ” on viral videos ; andRooms , an anonymous chat room app . Even though these apps are no longer available on the app stores , Facebook order that users who previously downloaded them can still use them . People will be capable to still post on Rooms until December 23 . Facebook did not give any last posting day for Slingshot or Riff .
The fact that Facebook is shutting down its Creative Labs does n’t mean that all of the apps that come in out of it were failures . Paper redesign the News Feed in clip - style , mention is used by famous family line to deal their Facebook followings , andMomentsis a individual pic - partake app that bank on Facebook ’s societal graph to key Friend .
what is more , central features from Creative Labs apps sometimes come along on the Facebook flagship app . For lesson , Paper ’s spirit and sense was replicated when Facebook release itsInstant Articles initiative . According to Facebook , we can proceed to expect thesame integrationeven as some of these standalone apps get kill .
“ Since their launches , we ’ve contain elements of Slingshot , Riff and Rooms into the Facebook for iOS and Android apps , ” a Facebook spokesperson told CNET .
Why this matters : Although Facebook ’s sizing and reach may give the company a vast advantage when it come to launching ( or borrowing ) societal features , that does n’t mean that Facebook can make equally occupy standalone apps all the clip .
After Slingshot , Rooms , and Riff fail to gain traction , Facebook ’s scheme seems to be shift towards improve its flagship app , or else of create a suite of Facebook - based mobile computer software . Last workweek , Facebook introduce alive TV streamingas an add up feature article to its app , as oppose to launching a standalone lively - streaming app to contend against Periscope and Meerkat .
Facebook - possess Instagram continues to release standalone apps like the recent GIF - makingBoomerangapp .
