There’s no shortage of event-finding apps for your smartphone. YPlan, Eventbrite, Songkick—the list goes on and on. Facebook’s dream of being your go-to event planner is no secret, and today it’s taking a huge swipe at its specialized competitors with a new, standalone app of its own. Available first on iOS, the aptly named “Events” gives you a filtered feed with all of your friends’ activity. So if they’ve said they’re “interested” in a nearby food market, you’ll see it immediately; there’s no need to trawl through the News Feed or hunt for the appropriate section inside the main Facebook Event app.
There’s a search tab too, which lets you filter events by time or location. An image-heavy carousel sits further down with suggestions, pulled presumably from your likes, history, and geographical whereabouts. Finally, there’s a search box if you want to get specific. The calendar tab, accessible at the bottom, will give you an overview of everything you’ve signed up for. It’s not a full calendar app, but if you’re struggling to keep up with your Facebook-related engagements, maybe this can help.
Events’ utility is obvious. Facebook has a massive audience, one that’s attracted almost every type of business and event organizer. That interest has led to a huge number of listings, which could appeal to an equally huge number of people online. Facebook’s job is to pair the two groups together—a simple challenge, you might think, but one that’s grown harder as the platform’s priorities have broadened. With video, live streaming, and friendship anniversary reminders, it’s easy for events to get lost amongst the rest of the social noise. A standalone app could bring them back to the fore.
While much of this is functionality you can get from the Events section of the main Facebook app or website, the Events app also features an interactive map so you can easily browse through events you may be interested in when you’re travelling.
The app is now available on Apple’s App Store and will be coming to Android “soon.”
