Meta is ending yet another of his social experiments. If you’re anything like me, this is probably the first and last time you’ll ever hear of it. It’s called tuned (via TechCrunch).
When Meta was still a part of Facebook in 2020, Tuned was introduced as a dating app for couples looking to stay in touch even when they’re away. The New Product Experimentation (NPE) team at Meta created the app, which is part of their portfolio of experimental products. Couples can secretly communicate with one another and send notes to one another using tuned. Couples can play games together to get to know one another better, in addition to Spotify integration for music-sharing.
According to TechCrunch, Meta has begun informing Tuned users that the app will be discontinued on September 19. Additionally, that is the deadline for consumers to download their data. A reason for Tuned’s discontinuation is not given, and neither its app pages on Google Play nor the App Store provide any additional information.
According to Jessyka Faison, an NPE spokesman, “in the spirit of experimentation and comparable to past apps, we try a lot of things, learn, and if our tests aren’t sticking, shut it down.”
Tuned appeared to be well-liked by couples, based on reviews and ratings. Tuned has been downloaded on Android and iOS about 900,000 times, according to Sensor Tower data accessed by TechCrunch.
Tuned may have been shut down due of its release at a time when pandemic lockdowns were intensifying. Perhaps fewer couples feel the need to use the app now that most of the world’s travel restrictions have been relaxed.
However, Meta’s NPE department has a poor track record of developing goods that stick. It shut down Sparked, a video speed dating service, earlier this year. Additionally, there was the short-lived video-sharing app Lasso and the Hobbi, which resembled Pinterest. Aux, Hotline, Whale, and more names keep showing up on the list and ending up in the NPE cemetery.
