Facebook is experimenting with a Pinterest-like app called Hobbi
Every now and then, Facebook quietly launches a new app, typically to a small audience, to test the waters a little bit. Last November, it was the meme-making app Whale, and now it's Hobbi, an iOS app that's quite similar to Pinterest.
Dubbed the "one stop app for your personal projects," Hobbi — first unearthed by The Information — Hobbi lets users save photos of "projects you’re working on and the activities you love to do," organize them into visual collections and share highlights. So yes, exactly like Pinterest.
The app currently has a pretty low rating of 2.1, with most complaints being that the app is unoriginal.
Just like Whale, Hobbi is built by Facebook's NPE Team, which Facebook calls a consumer-focused app group that focuses on "shipping entirely new experiences." The apps created by NPE Team can change rapidly or get shut down suddenly, and may or may not become widely available over time.
Other apps the NPE Team has previously built include Bump and Aux. Aux is a party DJ app, while Bump lets you start anonymous one-on-one chats with people in your community. None of the apps coming from NPE Team have so far recorded significant traction.
UPDATE: Feb. 17, 2020, 8:19 a.m. CET "We remain focused on building a visual discovery engine. Upon first look, Hobbi appears to be a photo saving app that lacks the discoverability, search, and recommendations of Pinterest. As described in the App Store, it's meant to help you document and remember the things you do, which is about the past, while Pinterest is about discovering ideas and inspiring action for the future," a Pinterest spokersperson told Mashable in an email.
Topics Facebook
Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.
