Goodbye To Facebook Creative Labs, Slingshot, Riff And Rooms; Company Will Still Experiment With New Apps In The Future

Users can bid goodbye to Facebook Creative Labs webpage, as well as apps Slingshot, Riff and Rooms as they were already phased out from Facebook when the social networking titan did internal housecleaning, reported Android Central.

The two standalone Android apps, Slingshot and Riff have been pulled out from the Google Play Store on Monday while Facebook removed the webpage for Creative Labs division, the supposed ground for its employees to help develop innovative apps.

However, the company expressed it still has plans to release experimental apps later.

Slingshot is a messaging app similar to Snapchat while Riff allows video sharing. Facebook likewise closed the versions of these apps for iOS with Rooms, a group messaging app for iOS which has no released version for Android.

CNET quoted a Facebook spokeswoman, "Since their launches, we've incorporated elements of Slingshot, Riff and Rooms into the Facebook for iOS and Android apps. We haven't updated these apps in some time and we've decided to officially end support by removing them from the App Store and Google Play."

Reckoning Facebook's mantra "Move fast and break things," CNET said the Menlo Park, California-based company did not hesitate to shut down its initiatives that did not gain traction.

It marks a turning point of its ambitions with apps as it focuses on other areas, such as, the artificial intelligence tech, drones to generate Internet signals as well as virtual reality stuff. It keeps on adding new features to its main service like 360-degree videos and live streaming.

The two-year experiment, Facebook Creative Labs was inspired by the company's "hackathons" when developers come together for coding sessions to come up with a prototype service or software.

Slingshot was conceived by Designer Joey Flynn and Engineer Rocky Smith, and their team eventually had about 10 people.

Former head of Facebook's Branch Josh Miller was overseeing Rooms, a modern spin of chat rooms where people can login anonymously without the need of a Facebook account, post photos, videos and chat.

People can join the rooms via an invitation with a QR code, akin to how users follow others on Snapchat. Miller has left Facebook for the White House as Director of Product. Rooms will shut down on Dec. 23.

The social networking firm said it will still experiment with new apps, as well as, support initiatives like Layouts photo editor, Instagram Hyperlapse and Paper newsfeed-reading app.