Facebook Inc. had high hopes last year when it launched Events, a standalone app aimed at making it easier for users to find things to do in their local communities. Unfortunately, the app did not make the same kind of splash as Facebook Messenger, and Events never gained much of a following even among diehard Facebook users.

Now it looks like Facebook wants to give Events another shot, as the company today relaunched it as a new app called Local, which appears to be designed as a direct competitor to social review and discovery apps such as Yelp and Foursquare.

The original Events app was essentially the same thing as the events tab from the core Facebook app, which highlighted concerts, parties, shows and other local events. Local is a little different and seems focused more on finding things to do in the moment.

Local’s description says it is designed to “help you discover places and things to do recommended by friends you know and trust.” Like Yelp and Foursquare, Local offers a number of categories for local businesses and events, including restaurants, bars and attractions. The app especially highlights locations that have been visited and liked by users’ Facebook friends. Facebook Local is now available for both iOS and Android, and users who already had Events downloaded will automatically be updated to the new app.

Facebook Local product manager Aditya Koolwal told TechCrunch that the app will not feature advertising for businesses, at least not at first, but depending on how successful Local is at getting customers in the door, the app may not need it. However, Koolwal did say that Facebook may consider advertising “way further down the line.”

Facebook’s new app is yet another example of the company’s efforts to have its own alternative to nearly every other social app out there, and so far Facebook’s strategy seems to be working. One of the company’s biggest success stories is Instagram, which seems to have unseated Snapchat as the favored picture-sharing platform. Facebook’s revenues continue to rise, but Snapchat maker Snap Inc. is in serious trouble from stagnant user growth and lackluster revenue. Following its recent earnings results, Snap’s shares plummeted by 18 percent.

Photo: Facebook