Meta launches Pocket app for making and sharing simple games

In short: Meta has launched Pocket in the US, a mobile app that lets people create interactive mini games by typing ideas, but the results stay inside Meta’s platform.

What happened

Meta launched Pocket in the US on August 21, according to Ars Technica. Pocket is a phone app where you type a description of what you want to make, and the app builds an interactive “gizmo,” like a tiny game or toy you can tap and play.

Pocket is designed so you never have to see or edit any code. Code is the written instructions that tell software what to do, like a recipe for a computer. Instead, you chat with an AI model (a text generator that can also write software instructions) and ask for changes, then wait about a minute or two for the app to rebuild your project.

Meta bought the team behind a now defunct app called Gizmo earlier this year, and Pocket builds on that idea. Finished creations can be posted and shared in a TikTok style feed with likes, comments, and reposts. People can also open a browser preview link, but the main experience is still centered in Pocket.

Why it matters

Pocket shows how making simple games is becoming more like posting on social media than learning programming. But it also highlights a tradeoff. Creators cannot export or even view the underlying code, which means projects are effectively locked inside Meta’s app, like making something in a craft room that you can only show to people who visit that same room.

Source: Arstechnica