It is strange to think about a social networking site having a phone, but it’s actually happening! The rumors about Facebook announcing a smartphone integration are true. Facebook Home will start out on Android devices at first, but it is expected to roll out to others as an optional downloadable application through Google Play.
What is Home?
Other than a place E.T. was trying to go, Home is a launcher, or homescreen replacement. It is the software that presents the main view of a device and allows users to access other apps and widgets. Users will be able to access News Feed, messages and notifications to the lockscreen. They will be able to Like or comment on stories, as well as, replying to messages without leaving the screen they’re on or opening a separate app. Facebook’s goal was to design with people in mind and the way the interact with a phone, instead of pushing applications. Applications can still be downloaded and operated like any other device without Home.
Cover Feed
This is a stream of your friend’s content from your news feed that appears on the lockscreen on your device. According to a study done by Mark Zuckerberg, smartphone users check Facebook nearly 14 times a day and look at their phone 100 times a day. Facebook saw this as an opportunity and wanted to give users a better and faster way to check their updates.
Currently photo posts, status updates and links are all included in a user’s cover feed. A user generated photo will be included in app stories and page posts will also appear here. If there is no photo included, Facebook will pull a user or page’s cover photo to make the story more visual. As of right now there are no ads displaying in the cover feed, but Zuckerberg isn’t ruling that out as an option one day.
Chat Heads
Home has a new messaging feature called “chat heads” that enables users to view and respond to SMS and Facebook messages through a pop-up window. People can view the message immediately or read it later by leaving the chat head circle on their screen.
Notifications
Facebook and other app notifications will appear on the home screen. When available, Facebook will use a person’s profile picture with the notification, or a logo from the app that sent the alert.
App Launcher
This is the homescreen where users are able to access applications on their phone as well as the main Facebook app. There is a navigation bar of shortcuts where you can start a status update, photo upload, or check-in. You can access this through clicking the home button or from the lockscreen. Swiping to the right will take the user back to the last application that they were using and swiping left is a shortcut into messenger.
Facebook Home will be released on select devices via Google Play on April 12th. Some devices include the HTC One X, HTC One X+, Samsung Galaxy S3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Home will also be compatible with HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 as well as be pre-installed on devices through the Facebook Home Program, like the HTC First. Facebook says Home will have monthly updates and a tablet version is in the developmental stages.
image source: facebook.com