Meta to shut down 'Tuned' - its social app for couples; Here's why

After two years of its launch, tech giant Meta has decided to shut down its social app for couples called 'Tuned'.

Users began receiving a notification about the impending shutdown last week, advising them to download their data before September 19, when the app will cease to work, reports TechCrunch.

Tuned was a project under Meta's New Product Experimentation (NPE) Team, which was initially formed to build consumer-facing apps that would allow Meta to test out new features and gauge people's reactions.

Launched in the early months of the pandemic, Tuned was positioned as a way for couples to stay in touch and engaged, with messaging features and quizzes designed to let them share how they are feeling, what they are up to and milestones they are anticipating.

Tuned allowed users to exchange notes, photos and videos, challenges, voice messages, notes and lists, and music via a Spotify integration.

They could set their respective moods and -- for more intimate content -- choose a password or a blur filter.

A "check-in" feature nudged couples to suss out their feelings about the relationship at any given moment, with prompts to add context.

According to Craig Chapple, a mobile insights strategist at app analytics firm Sensor Tower, Tuned was only downloaded around 909,000 times across the Apple App Store and Google Play.