Facebook will soon allow you to load your News Feed on slow connections, comment while offline

There’s only one thing that can prevent Facebook from being truly all encompassing: the internet, or rather, lack thereof. As long as you have a connection to the internet, you’re just a tap away from Facebook. But that’s not good enough for the folks of Menlo Park (Facebook HQ). The company announced today that it will be updating the News Feed for users in poorly connected areas.

If you’re on a poor connection, or an intermittent connection, you’ll still see new posts in the feed. You’ll also be able to leave a comment when the connection is poor or completely offline. The app will post the comment as soon as you’re back on a stronger signal. Facebook already does this with likes and shares, but comments are a much bigger deal.

In the blog post, Facebook talks a lot about emerging markets. Features like this are obviously a big deal in areas with poor internet reliability. Here in the U.S. these features will mostly come in handy when you’re on the subway or camping in the middle of nowhere. Either way, using an internet-connected app without the internet is pretty cool. These features will be rolling out slowly over time.