But Facebook is no longer a utility. It’s an attention-extraction machine. Every old IPA that successfully runs is a tiny rebellion — a reminder that software doesn’t have to be bloated, that yesterday’s design was sometimes better, and that even in the age of forced updates, a few stubborn users will always try to turn back the clock.
In the autumn of 2012, Facebook’s iOS app was a sluggish, bug-ridden embarrassment. Mark Zuckerberg himself reportedly called it “the biggest mistake we’ve made as a company.” That mistake is now, for a small but passionate community of digital archivists and nostalgic iPhone users, a holy grail. facebook old version ipa
“In 20 years, historians will want to see what the Facebook of the Arab Spring or the 2016 election actually looked like on a phone,” says one member who requested anonymity. “Right now, if we don’t save these IPAs, that UI is gone forever.” But Facebook is no longer a utility