Facebook to launch new audio call app ‘CatchUp’

NEW YORK: Facebook’s NPE (New Product Experimentation) team has released ‘CatchUp’ app that will help you stay in touch with the people amid maintaining social distancing due to coronavirus.

The audio call app is currently being tested in the United States for a limited time on iOS and Android. NPE Team, LLC, is a developer name that Facebook will use to launch new apps focused on giving people entirely new experiences for building community. It will always be presented to people as “NPE Team, from Facebook.”

The firm said in a statement, “Keeping in touch with friends and family is important, especially during this time of physical distancing. Messaging and video calls are great ways to send a quick update or connect with someone face-to-face, but speaking to someone over the phone offers a unique balance of both convenience and personal connection.”

Citing its studies, the firm said that it has found that one of the main reasons people don’t call friends and family more frequently is that they don’t know when they are available to talk or are worried they may reach them at an inconvenient time.

In CatchUp, you can indicate that you are available to talk and call close friends and family members who are also available in the app. With one tap, CatchUp makes it simple to coordinate or join a group call so you can catch up with multiple people at once.

Technology firms are marking efforts to provide better ways to connect with their friends and family virtually, using apps amid massive calls for maintaining social distancing due to the pandemic.