Facebook Launches First Experimental Apps Focused on Students and Social Music
Facebook's NPE Team releases its first experimental applications, including Aux for social music listening and Bump for anonymous student chatting.
Facebook's NPE Team, a division dedicated to building experimental consumer apps, quietly launches its first two creations called Aux and Bump. Former Vine GM Jason Toff joins the team as a product manager to help guide these new projects that aim to test fresh ideas and see how users react.
Aux is a social music listening app designed for school-aged kids and teens who join a daily 9 PM party to compete for the "AUX" title. Users select songs to play and earn "claps" to determine a nightly winner, bringing a crowdsourced DJ experience similar to the defunct Turntable.fm. The app currently remains limited to the Canadian iOS App Store with minimal downloads.
Bump serves as an anonymous chat app targeted at college students who want to make new friends without relying on photos or videos. The app provides text-based icebreakers about campus life to spark genuine conversations through words alone. Both apps reflect Facebook's broader strategy to rapidly prototype niche social experiences outside of its main platform.