Facebook Home Is A Complete Mobile Experience, Available April 12
The Facebook Home on Android event just finished and the most shocking news to come out of the event is that Facebook Home will be available for any Android phone, in addition to the announced HTC First which will available on April 12 for $99 (you can pre-order it today, if you want). When it comes to Facebook Home, Facebook is taking it very seriously — it’s not just an app, it’s a complete mobile experience, “We want this to feel like system software, not an app,” said Zuck. So what can you expect to see in Facebook Home?
Cover Feed
Facebook is looking to provide much more value to users when they turn on their phone by adding visual rich stories. If you see a photo, status, or check-in you like you can double tap to “Like” it, you can just as easily add a comment. Everything is just a swipe or a tap away. Cover Feed aims to show you the most important things on your Facebook feed.
Notifications + App Launcher
The notification systems is deeply integrated within the Cover Feed, tapping on a notification will launch the traditional Facebook app for you to view that piece of content.
The app launcher is easily accessible and can be customized to your liking. To access the app launcher, hold down on your face to bring up the options and swipe up for the app launcher. Facebook made it really easy to add and remove apps from the launcher and they also have a more comprehensive app list that is organized alphabetically called the App Drawer.
Chat Heads
Tap on face to bring up conversation, without losing the context of the app you’re in. You can easily switch between chat heads, move them around, and when you want to close chat heads throw down to the bottom of the screen. And best of all, chat heads work with both Facebook messages and SMS messages.
How Do You Get Facebook Home?
Facebook Home is available for free in the Google Play store, so you simply download the app and select whether you want to use Facebook Home instead of the Android Launcher. Home will receive updates every month with new features and more devices. Facebook is continuing to focus on being mobile-first. However, Facebook Home isn’t just about being mobile-first, it’s about being mobile-best. Facebook wants Home to be the best possible mobile experience for Facebook.
“We think that this is the best version of Facebook there is,” said Zuck.
Facebook Home will be available for download on April 12 with support for the HTC One, HTC One X, Samsung Galaxy S III, Samsung Galaxy S4, and the Samsung Galaxy Note II. More phones will be supported in later releases of Facebook Home.