Facebook has announced that it’s launching “NPE Team, from Facebook” to develop apps that will be more experimental, and have the freedom to change or be shut down if they don’t work, according to a report by CNBC.
“In the coming weeks, Facebook will begin to launch new consumer-focused apps under the developer name ‘NPE Team, from Facebook.’ NPE Team apps will be aligned with Facebook’s mission of giving people the power to build community but will focus on shipping entirely new experiences,” Facebook said in a blog post. “We decided to use this separate brand name to help set the appropriate expectations with users that NPE Team apps will change very rapidly and will be shut down if we learn that they’re not useful to people.”
Many of Facebook’s standalone apps have not been successful, and the company also has created apps that copy the characteristics of already popular apps. For example, the company recently launched an app called Lasso, which mimics the popular video app TikTok.
NPE stands for “New Product Experimentation,” and the team will be led by Facebook’s terms of service and existing data standards.
“This is a way for Facebook to develop new types of experiences for people and to try different ideas by creating small, focused apps in order to see whether people find certain features useful or engaging,” the company said. “We may use what we learn to help inform our thinking and product strategy moving forward.”
Some apps might allow users to tether their Facebook accounts, Facebook said. They will be available in both the app store and the Google Play store.
“We decided to create this separate developer name to help set the appropriate expectations with people that, unlike Facebook’s family of apps, NPE Team apps will change very rapidly and will be shut down if we learn that they’re not useful to people,” Facebook said. “We expect many failures. We also want to minimize disruption to the billions of people who use Facebook apps every day.”
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