Meta has quietly released a new app for iOS that focuses on Facebook groups. The application, called Forum, is aimed at users looking for deeper discussions and question-and-answer formats – a concept very reminiscent of Reddit. So far, the app is only available in a few markets, including the USA. An official start date for Germany, Austria and Switzerland has not yet been set.
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Closely linked to Facebook
As the Apple App Store listing suggests, Meta sees Forum as “a dedicated space for deeper discussions, real answers, and the communities that matter to you.” The app requires iOS 18 and a Facebook account. Existing groups, profiles and activities are automatically adopted. What users post in the forum also appears in the respective Facebook groups – and vice versa. The app was discovered by Geekout founder and social media analyst Matt Navarra. He describes the app on Threads as “very Reddit-coded” and emphasizes the focus on recommendations and “real answers from real people.”
The main difference to the main Facebook app is in the feed: Forum only shows content from groups – no posts from friends, no pages, no Reels. Users can also post under a pseudonym, similar to Reddit, although group admins can still see the real identity. When you first log in, the app asks for topic preferences and suggests suitable groups.
As you might expect, the new app also uses artificial intelligence: a tab called “Ask” summarizes answers from different groups so that users no longer have to search through each community individually. The original articles are linked from which the AI feeds its summaries. Meta provides an AI assistant for admins to help moderate and maintain the community. Meta emphasizes that admins retain full control and can continue to use their existing tools in Facebook.
Transparency and data protection remain vague
Meta has not yet documented how exactly the AI prioritizes content, which signals determine the ranking and whether the AI functions can be switched off. In the App Store, the company lists a wide range of collected data, including health and financial data, location, search history and sensitive information – although Forum primarily processes group content. This is likely to raise questions for a possible start in the EU, for example with regard to the GDPR and the AI Act.
Reddit Stock Reacts – Meta Tests Quietly
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After the new app became known, Reddit shares fell by around six percent. Analysts see Forum as an attempt by Meta to position itself more strongly in the market for public discussions and niche communities. Facebook had already launched an independent group app in 2014, but discontinued it in 2017. Forum is now the second attempt – this time with significantly more AI.
At the app’s launch, Meta simply stated that it was “publicly testing a lot of new products to see what people find interesting and useful.” Unlike Reddit, which is increasingly aggressively pushing iOS users into its own app, Meta at Forum is initially relying on a quiet test run without any visible app requirement.
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