New Facebook app aims to bring back the phone call

The people whose calls you dodge are sure to love this new app from Facebook.

On May 26, Facebook's New Product Experimentation (NPE) Team announced the launch of an app that's basically Houseparty for phone calls (not video calls). CatchUp, which is free to download, lets users see who's available to voice chat, and then allows them to initiate both one-on-one and group calls within the app.

CatchUp is a standalone app that is not connected with the Facebook app. You don't have to have a Facebook account, or an account with another Facebook-owned company, to use it. Instead of running on Facebook friends, it works by letting the app access the contacts in your phone and builds your friend list from there. So, it doesn't mean all of your relatives who are your Facebook friends will be able to call you more easily — just all the randos in your contacts who have also downloaded CatchUp.  Read more...