Facebook Acquires Fitness Tracking App for Apple’s iPhone

Facebook Acquires Fitness Tracking App for Apple’s iPhone

Facebook has just pulled off another coup on its rivals. This internet and social media corporate group has acquired a fitness tracking app called Moves for Apple’s iPhone, which is very popular among users. Facebook has acquired the developers behind Moves. This fitness iPhone app enabled its users to develop an activity diary for recording exercises such as cycling and running. FB has acquired the developers of Moves. This fitness app has been a wonderful tool for those who want to shed flab or remain fit.

While experts ponder the true motive of the acquisition, profit unquestionably plays a huge role in it. Fitness and healthcare have become popular themes for websites all over the world. As people become more image conscious, fitness is no longer taking the backseat. This accounts for the huge success of fitness tracking apps such as Moves. The app will continue to operate independently as well.

Apart from automated tracking of exercises and fitness activities, users can also enter data manually. Moves has established a strong connect with users because it offers close to 60 different types of activities and exercises as part of its tracking mechanism. The Moves fitness app also acts as a pedometer. It can be used to analyse people’s daily movements on the map.

While the cost of the transaction remains unknown, experts opine that it is considerable less than FB’s other high profile purchases such as WhatsApp and Oculus. The name of the developer which manages Moves is ProtoGeo. Fitness and activity tracking is one of the most hotly contested arenas when it comes to consumer technology. Early stage start-ups as well as leading corporate groups are competing for solutions in this field. Hardware and software solutions are becoming highly sought after in this niche segment. Apple is soon expected to enter the battle with the release of the iWatch. The iWarch is an advanced biomedical sensor that integrates with a Healthbook iOS application. FB had acquired Moves as part of the bigger strategy to have a wide gamut of applications along with the standard FB app.

Facebook is now gearing itself for a multi-app strategy. This is because the fitness app Moves will be part of a whole range of standalone apps available for Facebook users. Moves was launched just last year for iPhone and it can also be used with Android phones. This popular fitness has reportedly been downloaded an awesome 4 million times already. This standalone app will continue to operate in its present form.

Facebook’s talented workforce is moving to build and generate excitement about their new range of products and services. The mission is to find technology tools which can benefit its users. While Moves will continue to work as a standalone app without any change or commingling of data from FB, the huge amount of excitement it will generate is sure to boost the use of this social media network.

Facebook has made other recent, more high profile acquisitions as well such as the $19 billion purchase of WhatsApp and the $2 billion deal for Oculus VR. In buying Moves, Facebook is taking a step in a new direction. Moves is a motion tracking app which has the capacity to penetrate global markets as technology in many developing nations advance. It could be more than just a household name in the world of fitness apps.

FB branding is all about building an excitement across the new range of products and services. It is also about popularizing the use of apps for a wide cross-section of society. As internet continues to grow and develop in rural and remote parts of the world which were hitherto undeveloped, the opportunity for netting more profits by social media giants such as Facebook expands.

The acquisition of this fitness app is also a sign that Facebook is moving into emerging markets such as fitness and motion tracking with aplomb. Facebook has the potential to grow when it comes to tapping new markets through its broad range of services and apps. Another advantage of acquiring Moves is that it is an app only service which makes it ideal for tech savvy fitness enthusiasts. FB is certainly keen to capitalize on these niche users through this acquisition.