Facebook Launches Revamped, Faster Android App

Faster loading times, new user interfaces and disk cache implemented through custom code.

Facebook has launched a revamped Android app, offering users improvements pertaining to both speed and performance.

The social network has removed its hybrid native and HTML5 webview experiment, and has instead incorporated custom code to deliver faster loading times, disk cache, new user interfaces, among other improvements.

Facebook said that the updated app, entitled Android 2.0, had "several" of the social network's Android's core features being rebuilt. Another improvement is the ability to tap to open a photo "so you can quickly like and comment."

As well as faster comments, quicker uploads and being able to 'like' a post instantly, Facebook's coders built an automatically updated story banner to "bubble up" the latest stories without refreshing.

Bradley Horowitz, Google+'s VP of product, had recently stressed that Facebook is a "social network of the past", and that its intrusive advertisements are "pissing off users".

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halcyon , December 15, 2012 8:06 AM

Android and Facebook. Seems like an oxymoron to me.
2 Ð

twisted politiks , December 15, 2012 8:37 AM

And yet the app STILL turns on my GPS after I have had it disabled, keeping it from being disabled short of a reboot. Been having this problem FOREVER. I'll still be using the web version for my phone, thank you.
0 Ð

ltdementhial , December 15, 2012 8:58 AM

im using "Fast" for facebook instead theyre app since my phone (LG GT540) has only 180mb of ram, i will try the new one because HTLM5 runs smooth on my cellphone i don't have support for Adobe Flash in my phone but a mooder made an port from the html5 from Android 4.1 to my phone and they work better that the shitty Flash.
0 Ð

TunaSoda , December 15, 2012 9:03 AM

twisted politiksAnd yet the app STILL turns on my GPS after I have had it disabled, keeping it from being disabled short of a reboot. Been having this problem FOREVER. I'll still be using the web version for my phone, thank you.

I've run the app on three different smartphones and it never once activated or used gps
0 Ð

livebriand , December 15, 2012 9:51 AM

I still don't understand why I would want an app over the website...
1 Ð

Ironslice , December 15, 2012 10:09 AM

Finally! It's definitely a lot faster and no longer the worst app on my phone.
1 Ð

geost91gr , December 15, 2012 9:27 PM

Quote:
Bradley Horowitz, Google+'s VP of product, had recently stressed that Facebook is a "social network of the past", and that its intrusive advertisements are "pissing off users".

That "social network of the past" has aboout ten times the users you have. Plus, it seems unlikely you'll ever catch up. With all respect I have towards Google as a company.
6 Ð

Darkk , December 16, 2012 12:15 AM

Very happy with the app update. Much faster and smoother on my Galaxy Note II. The old version was terrible and had to wait forever for the screen to refresh.

Much more useful now.
2 Ð

assasin32 , December 16, 2012 9:55 AM

One of the biggest reasons why I am happy with my new phone it allows me to disable Facebook app. Freaking them was bloatware in the past and I still consider it now, it annoys me that phone carriers bundle it with the phone and won't let you disable it. I am happy Jelly Bean allows me to disable it though.
-2 Ð

NightbladeXX , December 16, 2012 6:26 PM

faster! ha my arse, the all new faster fb app, is broken and loads slower than if I had dial up
1 Ð

halls , December 17, 2012 7:41 PM

I'm on a slightly older Motorola Milestone X2, and I'm stuck with Android 2.3.5 - no Android upgrade options for me. I really appreciate the new app, it's much faster and more stable than the old one.

Facebook Launches Revamped, Faster Android App

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