Hacker News Reader

Comment by mromanuk | Hacker News Reader

I’m not sure about that. Whatsapp and Instagram are going in the opposite direction, they added Facebook in the Splash Screen.

View on HN

That "unified" splash screen is menacing. A constant reminder that wherever you turn, it's a FB property.

With Google/Apple/Microsoft it's quite straightforward, everything they make is clearly their style, their brand. This is not the case with Facebook's properties, they don't have a unified design language or branding. So adding a unified splash is a step in "marking it's territory", I just hate the feeling of that.

So, are you basically saying that you feel uncomfortable having the ugly, naked truth made more obvious to you?

I think so, yes. It felt better to see Instagram at least visually untouched by the blue "f".

Although, that splash has helped me reduce my usage of FB apps, so maybe that's a positive.

Would disagree that it's obvious companies like "Beats by Dre" (Apple) or GitHub/LinkedIn (Microsoft) are subsidiaries from styling/branding

Or that Nest, Stadia, Waze is Google

Very fair points! I guess it primarily depends on whether the service was developed in-house or acquired. FB is all acquisitions.

I think this is to make these products look more integrated with Facebook in the event of antitrust action. Same with unifying the messaging system.

"Your honor, we can't possibly spin off Instagram, it's now part of the core Facebook product!"

Interestingly too, I noticed the box for their Oculus Quests only subtly display the FB connection. And on the recent model, using a different/new 'thinner, all-caps' logo.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com