via The Verge
Meta Launches 'Pocket' — A Social Feed with AI 'Gizmos' Unrelated to the Original Read-It-Later App
Meta has unveiled a new app called "Pocket," but despite the name, it has nothing to do with the classic read-it-later service. Instead, this Pocket is a fresh social feed integrated with what the company calls AI "gizmos" — interactive, AI-driven features designed to enhance content discovery and user engagement.
Announced in early 2026, the app represents Meta's latest push into AI-enhanced social experiences. Rather than bookmarking articles for later reading, users browse a dynamic feed of posts, images, and short-form media, with AI gizmos surfacing personalized recommendations, generating conversation prompts, and even creating custom summaries or replies.
According to Meta, the name "Pocket" was chosen to evoke a sense of curated, portable content — but the product itself is a standalone social platform, not a clone of the original Pocket service (now owned by Mozilla). The company emphasizes that there is no overlap in functionality, branding, or user base.
Available on iOS and Android starting this month, Pocket aims to carve out a niche in the increasingly crowded landscape of AI-first social apps. Early reviews highlight the gizmos' ability to streamline content curation, though some users have expressed confusion over the familiar name attached to a completely different product.
Meta has not disclosed plans for integration with its other services, such as Instagram or Facebook, but the app does allow cross-posting to those platforms. As AI continues to reshape social media, Pocket could be a key test for Meta's strategy of embedding generative AI directly into the user experience.