THE ESSENTIALS IN 30 SECONDS

  • Waddle World is available only in the Philippines, on iOS and Android, and is rated for users 18 and over.
  • Users raise a pixel-art pet that turns spoken or typed accounts of their day into journal entries with doodles; the app also offers short mini-games.
  • Meta's listing says the app is not a chatbot or assistant and has no streaks or scores; Meta has not said whether it will expand.

Meta has released a standalone app called Waddle World in the Philippines, TechCrunch reported on October 28. The app, available on iOS and Android, asks users to pick and raise a virtual pet in what Meta's listing calls a "cozy 16-bit world". It was first spotted by social media consultant Matt Navarra, who summed it up as Tamagotchi meets ChatGPT.

A pet that keeps a diary

The main feature is a journal. Users tell the pet about their day, by voice or by typing, and the pet writes an entry in its own voice, accompanied by a small drawing. Gizmodo, which looked at the App Store listing, describes the product as closer to a journaling app than a pet game. Alongside the journal, users feed and play with the pet, and a set of mini-games takes a few minutes each. TechCrunch adds that the app can send a weekly email based on what it has learned about the user. The app is rated for adults aged 18 and over.

The listing deliberately plays down engagement mechanics: there are no streaks to protect or scores to chase, and according to Gizmodo the pet does not die if neglected. It also states that Waddle World is not a chatbot, an assistant or a productivity tool, and Gizmodo notes it does not mention AI or Meta's Muse models at all, although transcribing and writing entries suggests language models are at work behind the scenes.

A test, and some open questions

Meta has not said whether the app is a limited test or will reach other countries; TechCrunch asked the company and had not received an answer. The outlet suggests it could be an experiment ahead of a Tamagotchi-like gadget powered by Muse that was reported in September, and notes that avoiding a full AI companion app may be deliberate at a time when Character.AI and OpenAI face lawsuits alleging harm to teenagers.

Waddle World appears alongside other small-market experiments by Meta, including the Style Sketch fashion app, tested in three Asian markets. Gizmodo is sceptical, arguing that a digital pet gives Meta a natural pretext to nudge people back into an app. It also found no information on whether conversations with the pet are used to train Meta's models, which remains the most important unanswered question for a product built on users' personal reflections.