Facebook gets major update on Windows Phone platform

Facebook is bringing more features to its app on the Windows Phone platform so you can get more or less the same experience as those on other operating systems. The app will supposedly offer a faster, more refined user experience. Aside from a new look, it also gets additional language support as well as support integration of the standalone Facebook Messenger app. The Windows Phone version of Facebook connects directly to People Hub for those running Windows Phone 8.1. And you can directly upload videos taken from your device straight through the app.

Source: Ubergizmo

Facebook improves efficiency of Android app to support low-end devices

A recent visit to Africa by some Facebook engineers prompted them to tweak their Android app. Why you ask? Well, they experienced what it’s like to use Facebook on low-end phones with slow internet connection. They saw how low-end devices crashed trying to load the app and how they managed to consume a month’s worth of data with 40 minutes of trying to use Facebook.

What Facebook did with its Android app was to make it so that it didn’t load everything at once when you opened it. The News Feed entries are loaded much earlier and Facebook images are being transmitted using Google’s WebP format. This means the app loads images in resolutions and sizes based on the device’s screen size. It will only load the full-size photo if you select the photo. The app size has also been reduced by 65 percent to accommodate devices with limited storage and small RAM.

Source: Facebook Code

Facebook starts rollout of Nearby Friends feature for iOS and Android

If you want to know where your friends are at any given time, then Facebook is giving you an opportunity to find that out with a new feature they're rolling out for their iOS and Android apps. Nearby Friends lets you see what city or neighbourhood your friends are in, how long they have been there, and how many miles away from you they are.

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Facebook to pull plug on chat feature on mobile

Facebook wants chatting to be a standalone experience on its Messenger app. The social network is officially pulling the plug on the chat feature in the next couple of weeks. If you want to continue chatting with your Facebook friends, now is the time to download the Messenger app. If your device can’t run the app, then you are going to have to use the mobile site.

Source: Engadget