Facebook is continuing its experimentation in the dating scene, with the quiet launch of a new couples-only messaging platform called ‘Tuned’ (via The Information). Tuned is developed by Facebook’s NPE (New Product Experimentation) team. The iOS- only app allows couples to create an intimate digital network to share photos, texts and music. The app is available now in the Apple app store in the U.S and Canada.
Apart from helping them create a digital memory repository of sorts, ‘Tuned’ also allows couples to connect to Spotify to share music, share their moods, exchange voice memos, share custom stickers and reactions and even build a digital scrapbook. Another attribute is a timeline which features the couple’s shared memories. The venture seems similar to Facebook’s experiments that involve building smaller social networks. Examples are “threads” and “close friends” on Instragram. Tuned however does not require the user to have a Facebook account.
The description of the app on Apple’s App Store reads, “A private space where you and your significant other can just be yourselves. With Tuned, you can be as mushy, quirky, and silly as you are together in person, even when you’re apart. Creatively express your love, share your mood, exchange music, and build a digital scrapbook of your special moments.”
Despite having features found on all messaging apps, what ‘Tuned’ is looking to bank upon, is the space offered which can be dedicated solely to a relationship. Couples can connect through their daily contributions to the private space which also acts as a record of memories and activities done together. Tuned is free and is currently ranked no.872 in the U.S and no.550 in Canada in the social networking category.
What is interesting here, is Facebook’s continued investment in further growing the app ecosystem. Considering the swarm of apps that already bombard users these days, it is an interesting move from a player as big as Facebook
The platform was described as a “private space where you and your significant other can be yourselves” by Facebook’s New Product Experimentation (NPE) team to The Information. Launched last summer, this small team within Facebook is tasked to build new products and experiences from scratch. Purely experimental, the team’s projects are meant to start small. Facebook’s NPE has already created a meme-building app and an app similar to Pinterest. Due to fewer promotions and perhaps not much utility, both these apps lack visibility and haven’t been widely used.
