Facebook today said it will wind down and shutter Parse, a developer service platform it purchased in 2013. Developers use Parse to help manage backend tasks so they can focus on user-facing features for mobile apps. Facebook initially hoped to Parse could become similar to Amazon Web Services, a giant platform that allows developers to create and host mobile and web-based services. Companies such as Orbitz use Parse and Facebook thought it could make money by hosting such companies' data. The plan never bore fruit. Kevin Lacker, co-founder of Parse, said the service will continue to run for a full year until January 2017, and Facebook will provide the tools developers need to migrate their data elsewhere. "We know that many of you have come to rely on Parse, and we are striving to make this transition as straightforward as possible," explained Lacker. Facebook rep Michael Kirkland said the company plans to "dedicate more resources to high-impact products and services in areas like analytics, monetization, discovery, and authentication."


More...