Moments is Facebook's private photo-sharing app. It helps users in creating shared photo albums from friends and family members. And with it, they can also privately collect all photos and videos they want to look back on and those that they didn't take.
As of September 2016, Facebook is expanding it to go beyond its original confinement: while previously users are only limited to just selected Facebook friends, the new version of the app allows users to share a web link to users' private albums.
In short, users can now share their albums to those that aren't yet connected as Facebook friends, and even to those that aren't yet on Facebook.
The update makes Moments more useful at larger events where not everyone may be connected on Facebook. Like for example a concert, parties, weddings and others.
To use the new feature, users can either take their existing album, or just create a new one to then clock on the three dots at the bottom-right. Here, users will see a new option where they can "Share Link". This link will create a URL which can then be shared via email, instant messaging or practically other platforms they prefer.
The photo-sharing app which have been a mobile photo sync since the late 2015, is also expanding its to the web - a move follows Google Photos which added the same feature. The upgraded Moments is also rolling out another feature to support web users in general, and that is by having the ability to show full-resolution photos.
And while the app itself has already host all photos for no charge, it wasn't a "true" service for backing up photos. The reason for this is because Facebook's Photo Sync's replacement was still optimizing photos so it can store them with relatively smaller sizes. This also enabled Moments to give a better user-experience to mobile users.
The change is an addition to the new "Favorite" tab. When a users is adding a photo to his/her Favorites by clicking the star at the top-tight corner within 30 days of uploading/receiving them, the photo will then be saved in Moments in full-resolution.
There's no limit on the number of photos users can favorite either, said Facebook.
The move, again, is seen as a response to Google Photos which dedicate its service for unlimited photo storage for free, with options to choose a different plan where users can save full-resolution to their Google storage.
The difference between Google Photos and Facebook's Moments is that Google requires users to pay for additional storage beyond the 15GB it offers for free. This amount of storage, however, is shared across Google Drive and Gmail.
Facebook on the other hand, requires users to pick and choose which photos that they want to be saved in full-resolution. The strategy is that manual labor involved in starring photos will cut down people in uploading their entire album at their original resolution. This way, Facebook can compete with Google using its strategy, but having a workaround in the process.
But again, Moments isn't an alternative to a full-photo backup service. But if compared to Google Photos, it can indeed be a cheaper option.