By Barry Eitel
SAN FRANCISCO
Facebook launched a new standalone app Tuesday aimed at group messaging, an extrapolation of the groups feature on the social network.
The app, called Groups, is the latest in a campaign by the company to cater to users’ every mobile need.
Facebook claims the new app “helps people share faster and more easily with all the groups in their life,” according to a statement released Tuesday.
Facebook Groups allow clusters of users – families, teammates, coworkers – to share updates, photos and messages. The social media giant said it built the app with those who use the Groups feature the most in mind.
The app is essentially an evolved form of group messaging.
“When you open the app,” Facebook's team noted, “you’ll see all your Facebook Groups in one place. Groups you use most frequently are at the top, and you can quickly move between each group.”
Groups is the latest app released by Facebook’s Creative Labs, which has built four other apps for the company to varied success. In February, Creative Labs released a Flipbook-like news reader called Paper, followed by Slingshot, a Snapchat clone. Neither has gained traction.
Last month, the team released Rooms, an app that allows users to chat anonymously in groups and, therefore, will compete for Groups.
Nevertheless, Facebook seems willing to weather the clutter and sluggish user growth in its push to take over the mobile experience. The company ruffled plenty of users earlier this year when the Facebook app cut out its messaging service, forcing mobile users to download the standalone Messenger app – and provide competition not only for apps like Kik and Snapchat, but traditional SMS texting.
Groups will still be available on the main app, but the tactic to divide and conquer is still at play.
The Groups app is currently available worldwide on Android and iOS devices.
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