Facebook Quietly Releases Hobbi, A New App Similar To Pinterest

Facebook has quietly launched a new app called Hobbi under the 'NPE Team' developer name it first introduced in summer 2019. The app is similar to Pinterest, enabling users to upload pictures of their crafts, DIY projects, recipes, and other activities. This is the fourth app released by Facebook's New Product Experimentation (NPE) team, joining the previously launched meme-creation tool and more.

The Hobbi app was first spied by The Information, which initially found it listed in the Apple App Store in Ukraine, Colombia, Spain, and Belgium. The app has since been spied by some users in the US, as well, but it's unclear how widely available it is at this time. It also only appears to be available on iOS.

Based on the App Store listing, Hobbi is designed as a way for users to save their projects by uploading images and organizing them in 'visual collections,' which sounds similar to the boards featured in Pinterest. As well, users have the ability to create highlight videos that are shared with friends, indicating the presence of social features.

Despite that, Hobbi doesn't appear to have the same robust social elements found on Pinterest, which enables users to create boards and share them with others. This may make it more useful for individual users who want to track their progress, but it won't make the app particularly useful as a way to find new ideas.

Hobbi is a welcomed addition to the DIY app market, offering something a bit more personal as an alternative to Pinterest, which has largely dominated this app genre. Whether Facebook plans to grow the app to any substantial degree is unclear, however. It is possible that the experimental app may remain nothing more than a small project.