Facebook has re-built their iOS App from the ground up. Their developers went back to the drawing board to figure out how to trim of any excess code, features, and anything that might slow down its performance. The Facebook App, while still largely successful, has always been a little bit slow. Page takes too long to load, Safari in-app doesn’t work as well as just opening it, and the app was just sluggish overall. Currently 543 million users access Facebook from a phone or tablet, with many of those being iOS users, so an update was sorely needed.
The App team at Facebook basically decided what it could cut from the App to make it run smoother. While they say they removed a lot of weight and unnecessary code, only a bit of it is visible to us. One feature that you might notice is missing is the ability to navigate the app when your iPhone was turned horizontally. Facebook has removed this feature to speed up the app. At a recent demonstration of the App; the new version opened up and loaded almost twice as fast as the original. The ability to like comments has also been added in and has fulfilled a long missed need. Also bringing the App into a new fresh light is new support for Timeline on Facebook for iPad.
The newly updated App is available for free from the Apple App Store. If you gave up based on speed, give it another try, and if you’re new to the Facebook app, check it out. Hopefully next we’ll see the app add total integration for Instagram.