Facebook is forcing yet another app down its users’ throats. Remember when Messenger became a standalone app? Soon, you won’t be able to check your Facebook messages outside the dedicated platform.
Such is the case of the company’s photo-sharing app, Moments; according to a recent report, all images synced from the main Facebook app will be automatically deleted by July 7, unless people save them or install the Moments app.
The photo-sharing app was launched in June 2015, but before that, the syncing feature was integrated into the world’s largest social network. Many smartphone owners use the back-up option, as Facebook promised mobile users they would get unlimited automatic image uploads to a private Facebook photo album.
It was a simple way for people to be assured their photos were backed up – much like other services, including Apple’s iCloud Photos, Google’s Photos, or Yahoo’s Flickr.
But a new official announcement revealed that in early July, Facebook will remove all photos that are not from the synced album. The period between now and the deadline was offered for users to be able to download the photos they want to keep.
The social network had already stopped supporting automatic photo syncing from its main app back in January, which then required users to download the Moments app if they wanted to continue uploading their snapped photos. Now, the Moments app is required to sync photos.
Facebook explained that the privately-synced images were moved to Moments in January and if people do not want to install Moments, they should download the images from their Facebook profile before the deadline.
As we explained previously, this move is not completely foreign to Facebook’s practices. The private messaging option that used to be included in the main app was recently split and turned into a standalone platform.
Users were required to install it if they wanted to keep on chatting, which led to the Messenger app boasting more than 900 million users. The broader purpose of these new apps is to create a gargantuan platform and attract new Facebook users.
Since the announcement, Moments has started skyrocketing on app charts, becoming the third most popular free iOS app in the United States.
Image Source: Phandroid
