Skip to main content

Facebook Moments auto-tags your friends, so it’s easier to share pictures

Moments
Do you get annoyed when friends take photos of you, and they never send them to you? Facebook is launching a new standalone app called Moments, that makes it easier to share photos with friends.

Moments scans your camera roll for familiar faces, and helps you share photos with the people in the picture. The social network is already using facial recognition technology to make tag suggestions on Facebook, but Moments takes it to the next level. If your friends use the app, they will see all of the photos they were tagged in. If they haven’t installed the Moments app yet, they will receive a notification that says they have photos waiting for them in the app.

Facebook moments
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Facebook’s Moments app is a great way for people to share photos from weddings, birthday parties, concerts, and family reunions. You can also search for photos of your friends, save photos to your phone’s camera roll, and share photos directly on Facebook or Instagram — all within the app. Conversely, those who don’t want to be tagged in any group photos, can opt out using Facebook’s settings.

“I expect we’ll learn something from Moments that will ultimately make its way into the main app, but we’re really focused on making Moments a space on its own,”Facebook’s Product manager Will Ruben told The Verge. “The sharing on Moments is really different from sharing in other apps — it’s a much more private kind of sharing with specific friends. I think it has a space to stand on its own.”

Moments is brought to you by Creative Labs, the same team that released apps like Paper, Hello, Mentions, and Slingshot. While most of these creative projects haven’t exactly made it to the mainstream, they are a key part of Facebook’s experiments. It will be interesting to see if Moments will go viral or if it will fade away like many of Facebook’s new app ventures.

Moments is available for download in the U.S. on iOS App Store or Android Google Play. According to Facebook, Moments will be “rolling out to more countries over time.”

Karen Tumbokon
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Karen is a technology, music and entertainment writer. Originally from New Jersey, Karen began her writing career in music…
Does your Duolingo app icon look sick? You’re not alone
The Duolingo app icon, showing a sick-looking version of the Duolingo owl.

It's an absolute tragedy: The normally chipper Duolingo owl has fallen ill.

Just kidding. The app icon might have changed, but it doesn't mean any significant changes are coming to the app. It did stir up quite a bit of conversation on both X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit, though, as users around the world noticed that the Duo owl looked like he needed a heavy dose of DayQuil.

Read more
You can finally try one of iOS 18’s coolest AI features
A person holding an iPhone that shows an image.

Apple Intelligence, unveiled at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), is still under development nearly three months later. The only way to access some of its features before a public release is by downloading the latest iOS 18.1 developer beta and receiving an invitation from Apple.

Until now, most of Apple Intelligence's features available to individuals outside of Apple are related to writing and communication tools. With the third iOS 18.1 beta released earlier this week, Apple released a feature related to the Photos app.

Read more
The best Google Pixel 9 Pro screen protectors in 2024
Pixel 9 Pro in Rose Quartz showing home screen.

The new Google Pixel 9 smartphone series is now available in stores. Whether you are considering the entry-level Pixel 9, mid-priced Pixel 9 Pro, or the high-end Pixel 9 Pro XL, these phones aren’t exactly cheap. With this in mind, you may be considering buying both a case and a screen protector for your new purchase.

If you’ve decided to buy a Pixel 9 Pro, you’ve come to the right place. Here are the best Pixel 9 Pro screen protectors you can buy and why.

Read more