Meta announces the closure of 'Meta Spark,' a service that allows users to develop and distribute AR filters for Instagram and Facebook, with almost no notice, and creators are flooded with complaints

Meta has announced that its third-party tools and content platform for Meta Spark , which allows users to develop and distribute AR filters for Instagram and Facebook, will no longer be available after January 14, 2025.

A Meta Spark Update
https://spark.meta.com/blog/meta-spark-announcement/

Creators are angry by Meta's Spark AR shutdown, saying they'll be out of work with little notice
https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/27/creators-are-angered-by-metas-spark-ar-shutdown-saying-theyll-be-out-of-work-with-little-notice/

Meta is ending support for custom face filters in its apps
https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/27/24229643/meta-spark-ar-effects-face-filters-shutdown-tiktok-snapchat

Meta is shutting down Spark AR effects platform
https://www.neowin.net/news/meta-is-shutting-down-spark-ar-effects-platform/

Meta Spark is an AR filter development and distribution platform released in 2017, which provided many consumers with the opportunity to experience AR content at a time when AR content was still relatively new. In addition to AR filters for Facebook and Instagram, Meta Spark is expanding the AR filter creation function to Messenger in 2021. At the time, Meta announced that 'More than 600,000 creators in over 190 countries are using Meta Spark to create AR filters.'

On August 27, 2024 local time, Meta announced that 'after a thorough evaluation, we have decided to close the Meta Spark third-party tools and content platform on Tuesday, January 14, 2025.' As a result, AR filters created by third parties will no longer be available after January 14, 2025. However, AR filters developed and distributed by Meta will continue to be available on apps such as Instagram and Facebook.

Regarding the shutdown of Meta Spark, Meta said, 'We're deeply grateful to the community of creators, businesses, and other key stakeholders who have been part of the Meta Spark journey. When we launched the platform seven years ago, AR experiences were new to most consumers. Since then, the imagination, innovation, and creativity of the AR creator community has brought AR to hundreds of millions of people across Meta's platform. This decision is part of our larger effort to prioritize products that we believe will best serve the future needs of our consumer and business customers. We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible.'

In addition, the company has published a FAQ for users regarding the closure of Meta Spark, which specifically states that Meta Spark Studio, Meta Spark Player, and Meta Spark Hub will be shut down.

Important update for Meta Spark users
https://spark.meta.com/learn/FAQ/Meta-spark-update/

In response to this, voices of confusion are spreading in the Meta Spark community on Facebook. One user commented , 'I'm really heartbroken to hear that Meta Spark is closing. This platform has been an integral part of my journey and I'm deeply grateful for the amazing career opportunities it has given me,' and expressed gratitude to Meta Spark, but another user commented, 'I'm really confused. Does Meta Spark disappearing mean that most of the filters will disappear from Instagram? I feel that filters are a big part of Instagram and it feels so strange without them... The default filters are just not fun to use and don't capture the user's personality as much as individual creators. So Meta will introduce another program?' Others pointed out that Meta's decision will lead to the decline of Instagram, saying, 'This is ridiculous! Can you imagine users using Meta's owned AR effects? Everyone is using third-party AR filters, especially the LUT and retouching ones. It seems like Meta is going to kill Instagram Stories.'

Meta is scheduled to hold Meta Connect 2024 on September 25, 2024, where details regarding the closure of Meta Spark may be announced.