In 2013, Facebook made an announcement that sent ripples of excitement throughout the tech industry: the social media giant was working on a smartphone. Dubbed the Facebook Phone, it was supposed to be a game-changer. But almost eight years later, we’re left wondering, what really happened to it?

The idea of a Facebook Phone was a tantalizing one. Facebook had quickly become one of the most popular social media brands around the world, and with over a billion active users, the move into hardware seemed like the next logical step. So, in April 2013, Facebook announced that they had teamed up with HTC to create something called “Facebook Home.”

The concept was simple: instead of using your Android smartphone’s stock home screen, the Facebook Home interface would become the phone’s primary interface. The app would integrate with your Facebook account, showing you updates and notifications from your friends right there on your phone’s home screen. It seemed like a marriage made in heaven. But in reality, the Facebook Phone was doomed from the start.

The Facebook Home interface was launched on Samsung phones and was later available as a standalone app in the Google Play Store. Facebook hoped that it would become a standard feature on Android devices, but it never took off. Critics panned it for being too clunky and intrusive, and users were hesitant to give such power and access to Facebook. The phone was also heavily marketed towards the younger user base, which could not afford an expensive phone, let alone a social media-driven phone.

By the time the HTC First, the first device to feature the Facebook Home interface, was released in April 2013, the hype had already died down. Despite being marketed heavily and offering some attractive features, the HTC First was a commercial flop. Few people were interested in a phone that was so heavily dependent on Facebook.

After the HTC First flopped, Facebook quietly shelved the idea of creating a dedicated hardware device. Instead, the company chose to focus on integrating its services more closely with existing hardware. Facebook now appears to be more focused on developing messaging apps, virtual reality, and other technologies.

So, what happened to the Facebook Phone? Put simply: it was a victim of unrealistic expectations. Facebook overestimated how much people would want a dedicated Facebook device and miscalculated how much control and access users would be willing to give up. In the end, the Facebook Phone was a product that nobody wanted, and it ended up being quietly buried. But Facebook didn’t give up on mobile, and today, it is one of the most popular apps and services globally.