Facebook Pushes Moments To Users, Threatens to Delete Synced Photos If App Is Not Installed

It seems Facebook is opting for a more aggressive approach in convincing people to use its photo-sharing app called Moments. Now Facebook users have a more compelling reason to download Moments, unless they want tons of their synced photos stored in Facebook's servers deleted.

The move by Facebok is seen as the social media's way of getting users to use its photo sharing app Moment which is seen as a direct competitor to the more popular app Instagram, reports The Guardian. People who want to retain their synched photos need to install Moments before July 7, the deadline set by the social media behemoth.

Back in 2012, Facebook introduced a feature called photo synch. The feature basically promises a virtual backup of all photos taken by a Facebook user's phone where the feature was activated. A private photo album was created by Facebook for its user which served as the destination of all photos automatically uploaded by the synced feature. The feature works the same way as Flickr, iCloud Photos and Google's Photos.

Recently, however, the photo sync feature has been moved from Facebook to the Moments app, which was introduced last 2015, notes The Verge. This seems to be a clear indication that Facebook is indeed serious to implement its threat in deleting the stored synced photos unless it gets its way.

 Facebook users who have previously used its synced feature but do not wish to install the Moment app could still retrieve a copy of all their synced photos. Facebook will allow its users to download a zip file containing all their synced photos before the deadline.

Although it could be argued that Facebook gave users plenty of time, the ultimatum did not sit well with a lot of people. Some view it as a shameless tactic to push people into using the unpopular Moments app.

To put it in perspective, it could be argued that Facebook could just have stored them indefinitely because it certainly has the resources to do so. But instead, the social media giant wants to delete them unless users begin supporting its photo-sharing app. Now people are asking, it is a reasonble business move or a case of strong-arm tactics?