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Facebook has just announced the launch of their long-awaited native Android app. Bye bye, HTML5. The new version of the app, which moves things such as photos and newsfeed into the realm of native code, boasts speed and performance enhancements and an Android-optimized experience.
Aside from a faster scrolling timeline and zippier photo load times, the native app also features a new story banner that will update you on the latest musings of your friends without the need to refresh your news feed.
If you consider yourself a long-time Android user, frustrations with Facebook’s seemingly neglected Android app should be nothing new to you. Things had gotten so bad that Mark Zuckerberg began forcing engineers to use Android phones, and Facebook as a whole started an internal ad campaign to encourage employees to switch from their iOS devices to help aid in app development.
Hopefully their efforts pay off, but this should just be the beginning. Now that the hard work of rebuilding much of the app is over, the Facebook team can focus on implementing new and innovative features based on Android’s strengths. If you want a more technical overview of what has changed, head over to the source link below.
[via Facebook]
Obligatory “I’ll believe it when I see it” comment… I’m maintaining 0 expectations so that I don’t feel let down yet again.
i have used the web browser for a couple months ever since the app was not usable for even a news feed
It is about time…
How can Facebook ignore Android. Last time I checked Android phones out number IPhones.
It’s not that they ignored Android, it’s how the application was built. And didn’t you just see what Mark was doing? He forced his engineers to use Android to see how bad the app was. I don’t think that’s ignoring. LoL!!
im too lazy to turn on my gnexus and update it… o well stick to i5.
How great for you. Do you have to mention that you have an iphone 5 all the time? Do you feel good about it?
yes i do. i5 is so addictive. i no longer need to carry my charger with me wherever i go because i got an i5. i5 made my daily life much simpler..
Congratulations on your over-priced battery, your parents must be proud.
Hey!! My Epic 4G Touch last all day too!! That’s so cool!! I can’t wait until I get a phone that came out the same time as yours!! Maybe I’d get even MORE battery life!! =.D
Funny though. My friend has an iPhone 5 and his battery dies quite fast, even though he isn’t using his phone. =.S
I hope you’re not lying.
You have an iphone, we already know you’re lazy.
Mine’s updated, seems nice and smooth.
It’s live for updating in the Play Store. They did at least fix the ability to swipe left and right when people have uploaded multiple pictures. They always use to show you there were more pics but you had to open the album to see the rest.
I have been doing that for quite some time. Maybe there was an error on your end. Because if I clicked on a picture that was uploaded, it “technically took me” to the album. When I’d swipe, I’d swipe through pictures in that album the picture was uploaded to.
But picturing viewing never worked. It always had problems loading the picture and wouldn’t load.
Let me download this update.
Well on my old N1 I would have cared, but on the N4 the speed is good enough. We’ll see maybe the battery improvements will be worth it.
I’m still waiting for the return of the contacts synching, preferably with integration like Google+ and LinkedIn do (& Twitter used to do!) on ICS+…
It’s definitely much improved. Not getting the photo load error and UI is a little refined. Only annoying thing is that scrolling feels a little “loose” or floaty.
I got the update and I’m now getting an error responding to a comment on my post of this article I uploaded on there…
Definitely is faster. But only Time will tell how many bugs it may have.
still no push notifications….
their Facebook Pop don’t work. I downloaded it through Zedge and it works fine now. The only notification I don’t get is when receive a message. Facebook Messenger takes care of that though.
Yea, I don’t even use FB on my phone. Really all I want is FB Messenger to update with the same native code and I’ll uninstall this thing.
Push notifications are working fine here, they have been for months.
Yep this could be interesting!!!
is it just me, but are we now seeing everything that our friends are liking or commenting on in the newsfeed? feels like i have to sift through so much crap before i actually see what any of my friends have posted.
Mines always been like that. It’s a never ending chain. They like them, they show up on your newsfeed, you like them, now they show up on other peoples’ feed.
It’s definitely much faster and prettier. Unfortunately scrolling isn’t very smooth, nothing like on an iPhone. Don’t know if it’s just my aging Dinc2 running CM9 or what.
Works nicely now! Makes me actually want to get on Facebook!
Good job going native on Android! It’s a start. The app needs a lot of performance tweaks. Still seeing those missed frames while scrolling. Smoother UX = More reach
I can’t seem to delete comments anymore. Did they change that?
Surprisingly impressive.
Does it use Holo or any Google design guidelines at all?
Nice job guys