Facebook reportedly disbanded its team of engineers assigned on Facebook Home, as the app failed to attract downloads from users.
Facebook Home was mobile software designed for Android devices. It was released in April 2013 as part of Facebook's hopes to penetrate the mobile market on a deeper level. To use Home, a user should download and install it first. Facebook Home was designed to deliver Facebook content faster, enable the user to send messages to friends easier and from the home screen of his or her phone instead from Facebook's app. Home was envisioned to turn any smartphone into a Facebook phone.
Although hopes for the app were high, Facebook Home received far more criticism than it did praise a few weeks after its release. Six months after it was introduced, Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg expressed his disappointment. Despite several updates, only a few downloaded the app.
"I definitely think Home is slower in rolling out than I would have hoped," Mr. Zuckerberg said in an interview at a tech conference in 2013, the New York Times reported.
The software can still be downloaded from Google Play app, but the company has reportedly stopped releasing updates since January. The social media giant decided to focus instead on its multi-app strategy, establishing its presence in many platforms including WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram.
According to sources of the Times, Facebook has been re-appropriating its resources. Facebook Home design leader Joey Flynn was assigned to work on an app similar to Snapchat. Other Home team members such as Adam Mosseri were moved to other projects related to mobile integration.
"It wasn't the right product at the right time for their customers," Brian Blau, research director and analyst for the Gartner Group stated. "Facebook always thought they could turn things around, but they haven't for whatever reason."
