Facebook enters the fitness arena by snapping up Moves app

Facebook enters the fitness game
We like to move it, move it

Virtual reality wasn't enough to satisfy Facebook's ambitions - the social network has just announced that it's bought fitness-tracking app Moves.

Moves logs your daily activites using your smartphone, handily keeping track of when you've stopped for lunch, work etc.

Facebook clearly sees that fitness is the area to get in on right now, and the crew behind Moves are now joining Zuckerberg in the big blue.

Update: A Facebook spokesperson has sent TechRadar the following statement about the Moves move:

"As part of Facebook's multi-app strategy, we're excited to announce that the popular Moves app will be joining Facebook's suite of applications. Key members of Moves will be joining Facebook at our headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. The Moves app will continue to run as a separate, stand-alone application. The Moves team has built an incredible tool for the millions of people who want to better understand their daily fitness activity, and we're looking forward to the app continuing to gain momentum."

Commingle

In a statement, Moves said that it's moving to Facebook "to work on building and improving" products and services "with a shared mission of supporting simple, efficient tools for more than a billion people."

We're told that Moves will contine to operate as a standalone app. As for privacy champions, don't fear - Moves says that it won't "commingle" data with Facebook.

So that's Whatsapp, Instagram, Oculus and now Moves. Who's next?

Hugh Langley

Hugh Langley is the ex-News Editor of TechRadar. He had written for many magazines and websites including Business Insider, The Telegraph, IGN, Gizmodo, Entrepreneur Magazine, WIRED (UK), TrustedReviews, Business Insider Australia, Business Insider India, Business Insider Singapore, Wareable, The Ambient and more.


Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider covering Google and Alphabet, and has the unfortunate distinction of accidentally linking the TechRadar homepage to a rival publication.