With every new acquisition Facebook continues to branch out beyond its social networking sphere. The latest sector it has moved in to is the booming fitness tracking industry.
Instead of purchasing an actual fitness wearable, Facebook has opted for a popular fitness app known as Moves.
Developed by Finnish start-up ProtoGeo, the app runs in the background on users’ phones, using location data to build up a profile of their activities throughout the day. Described as a “surprise hit” by Apple following its 2013 launch, it has been downloaded 4 million times.
In a statement on its blog, ProtoGeo addressed the acquisition and the potentially sensitive concern of data-sharing with the social networking giant. This is what the developer had to say:
“We’re joining Facebook’s talented team to work on building and improving their products and services with a shared mission of supporting simple, efficient tools for more than 1 billion people.”
It added: “Moves will continue to operate as a standalone app,” while stressing that there are no plans to “commingle data with Facebook”.
Moves launched in January 2013 for iPhone, and had been downloaded 2.5m times from Apple’s App Store by the time it launched for Android in September 2013. The app stood out from other fitness trackers because it didn’t require an external gadget to track people’s steps, unlike Fitbit and other rivals.
“It’s a very smart move to buy Moves given how hot the activity tracking space is right now. This is a slick application that has been a trailblazer in this app category on smartphones,” said analyst Ben Wood, Chief or Research at CCS Insight.
“I’d expect the Moves servers will be working overtime in coming hours and days as consumers rush to try out the app based on Facebook’s purchase,” added Wood.
The acquisition sees Facebook join a thriving sector, which includes wearables manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC, Nike and Fitbit – all of whom have synced, standalone or third-party fitness tracking apps that work with their respective devices.
Facebook didn’t reveal the amount it payed for Moves.