from Hacker News

Moves joins Facebook

by Aaronneyer on 4/24/14, 1:37 PM with 108 comments

  • by pilif on 4/24/14, 2:56 PM

    What really annoys me about this: I don't get a warning when this is happening. I had an account with them and now Facebook owns that data with zero recourse for me.

    Sure - the moment I read this, I deleted my account and the app, but who's to say that the data is really gone now and hasn't been copied to Facebook before this?

    First they got all my WhatsApp messages and now my Moves data.

    No longer can I chose to not share data with Facebook when they can just come in and purchase it after-the-fact. This will certainly make me even more careful whom I'm willing to create an account with.

    Up until the WhatsApp and Moves deal, I had this rule that if I pay for it, it'll probably going to be independent because whoever's running it will be able to sustain it.

    But now that this is out of the window, what's left as an indicator? How can I use a service if I don't want the data I create/store there to end up at Facebook?

  • by droob on 4/24/14, 2:25 PM

    BOOOOOooooooooo. I'm tired of this game of whack-a-mole I have to play on my home screen. If I've learned anything as a modern user it's not to let any app become a part of your routine. It's not worth the hassle when they cash out.

  • by ohadron on 4/24/14, 1:47 PM

    Seems like Facebook is completely unaware of how the public perceives their disrespect for user privacy.

    If I was a competitor the first thing I'd do right now is to make a way to migrate users' data from Moves to my app.

  • by gbrhaz on 4/24/14, 2:32 PM

    I stopped using Moves a while ago when I noticed it absolutely hammering my battery. It was unfortunate as I used it almost as a journal (easier to remember what I was doing on the day when all that data is available).

  • by incanus77 on 4/24/14, 4:44 PM

    Yep, I'm outta here. At least I can still export my data, unlike what happened / is happening with Gowalla:

    http://www.quora.com/Gowalla/Where-did-my-Gowalla-data-go

    A few weeks back I started playing with Moves' new export and TileMill, with some cool results:

    https://twitter.com/incanus77/status/454306725311442944

    https://twitter.com/incanus77/status/454307378482016256

  • by rickyc091 on 4/24/14, 1:50 PM

    Loved the app, but I'm hitting the delete account button as we speak.

  • by alexcason on 4/24/14, 3:20 PM

    cmd+f journey

    Yes!

    "Thank you for supporting us on this journey, and we’re looking forward to our future at Facebook!"

  • by gtirloni on 4/24/14, 5:22 PM

    "joins" is quite an interesting word to use for being acquired and answering to new bosses.

  • by ulfw on 4/24/14, 5:05 PM

    Why does everyone have to use PR-Speak these days. "joins Facebook". That sounds like they're happy buddies going together now as equals. Why not simply say "Moves was bought by Facebook". Nothing wrong with that?!

  • by emdowling on 4/24/14, 1:51 PM

    The post talks about data not going anywhere. Will the app itself continue to be updated? I recently stopped wearing a fitbit in favor of just using Moves and couldn't be happier. I hope the app continues to live on.

  • by harmonicon on 4/24/14, 5:27 PM

    I am very dismayed at news that Facebook acquired Moves. That's one less app I will be using on my phone. However I have to stop to think is this just a knee-jerk reaction?

    Most of my friends, when I talk to them about how much information is being collected by FB/GOOGLE, just do not care all that much. Responses range from "I got nothing to hide from anybody" to "I think targeted ad is just fine". At that point I don't know what to say. Since in my case I just have a visceral hate toward company who attempt to collect all data about myself. Is it actually that bad?

  • by CanSpice on 4/24/14, 4:04 PM

    For those of you who might be looking to move away from Moves, you could give Breeze a try. It's only available for the iPhone 5S (because of its M7 chip). It was announced last week by Runkeeper: http://blog.runkeeper.com/1547/runkeeper-debuts-new-iphone-a...

    I haven't tried it, but I already have a Runkeeper account and I think I'm going to give it a shot.

  • by ejain on 4/24/14, 4:59 PM

    Too bad the terms of the deal aren't public, because that would tell us if this is just another talent acquisition, or if Facebook has an interest in the app (or data)...

    I've been using the Moves app to add important context to my "quantified self" data on zenobase.com. The Saga app is an alternative in case Moves languishes--at least until they get acquired by someone, too :-)

  • by rismay on 4/24/14, 2:53 PM

    Are there any open source alternatives? Is anyone interested in building one?

  • by mewwts on 4/24/14, 1:50 PM

    Aaaand I do not feel comfortable using Moves anymore.

  • by dspillett on 4/24/14, 2:19 PM

    > "the Moves experience will continue to operate as a standalone app, and there are no plans to change that or commingle data with Facebook"

    I very much doubt this will remain the case for long, otherwise why would they bother buying it?

  • by cheshire137 on 4/24/14, 6:12 PM

    I just exported my data via http://moves-app.com/export and deleted my account. Know of any alternatives for Android?

  • by loceng on 4/24/14, 2:03 PM

    What are the alternatives?

  • by jkdearden on 4/24/14, 5:14 PM

    I'm definitely a fan of the brief 'About Moves' section they have at the bottom of the page. Too often these acquisition posts offer no details about what the app/company actually does, with the main website either not accessible through any links on the page or just gone completely.

  • by creativityhurts on 4/24/14, 4:00 PM

    For those looking for a replacement, Pedometer++ is a pretty good alternative (I'm not related to it in any way) https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/pedometer++/id712286167?mt=8

  • by hackmeister on 4/25/14, 8:12 AM

    Every breath you take Every move you make Every bond you break Every step you take

    I'll be watching you

    "Every breath you take" by Sting

  • by adrianlmm on 4/24/14, 3:47 PM

    Are you guys sure you hate Facebook for privacy reasons and not becuase it is Google's nemesis?, becuase when I see someone complaining for Facebook and is using an Android phone with a GMail account there is something wrong.

  • by brianbreslin on 4/24/14, 2:36 PM

    what did Moves do? never heard of them before today.

  • by beaker52 on 4/24/14, 1:55 PM

    Last week: Dropbox

    This week: Moves

    Next week: Gmail... oh wait.

    sigh

  • by nhangen on 4/24/14, 2:26 PM

    I didn't think anyone actually used this app. Anyone know how many active users they had?

    I tried to use it, but it killed my battery and couldn't catch things that my Nike Fuelband could, since I don't take my phone to the gym, to run, etc.

    Still, good on them for getting a piece of the pie.

    I fail to understand why companies keep acquiring mobile app businesses, but what do I know.

  • by joshstrange on 4/24/14, 1:50 PM

    >> For those of you that use the Moves app – the Moves experience will continue to operate as a standalone app, and there are no plans to change that or commingle data with Facebook.

    I don't believe this for one second. Glad I have my Withings Pulse now so I can drop the Moves app.