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Facebook is testing a Lite app for iOS
Facebook Lite is an app aimed at lower-end Android phones that offers the user a pared-down version of the social network experience. Now, 9to5Mac reports that Facebook is working on a similar Lite version for iOS. We've reached out to Facebook for confirmation that the app is in testing.
Facebook is making it easier to delete your data
In the wake of Cambridge Analytica, Facebook is reminding folks to check on their privacy settings for the social network. "Last week showed how much more work we need to do to enforce out policies and help people understand how Facebook works and the choices they have over the data," a blog post reads. "We've heard loud and clear that privacy settings and other important tools are too hard to find and that we must do more to keep people informed." Cambridge Analytica isn't mentioned by name once in the post.
Facebook kills its standalone Groups app
Facebook seems to be clearing out some of its app clutter. It just ended support for its high school-geared app Lifestage earlier this week and today it announced that its standalone Facebook Groups app will be discontinued as well.
Facebook's Moments app now automatically creates movies from your photos
Facebook's relatively new Moments app started life as a way to privately share photos with friends -- it groups pictures you've taken into, well, moments and then suggests you share them with your Facebook friends who are in the pictures. Today, Facebook is releasing the app's first major update, and the headlining new feature is that the app can now auto-generate video collages based on your groups of photos. By default, any moment with six or more photos will automatically have a short video generated from the pictures; you can customize it by changing the soundtrack (there are 11 different music options), adding or removing photos and tagging your friends.
William Shatner reviews Facebook's new VIP-only Mentions app
Whether you're a fan of Captain Kirk or Picard (we're Team Picard here), you have to admit it's apt that William Shatner is reviewing the celebrity-exclusive Facebook app -- he definitely loves some VIP prestige. The Priceline huckster gives a surprisingly in-depth feature-by-feature comparison between The Social Network's Mentions app and Pages, which everyone has access to, but not before throwing some shade toward the starship Enterprise's yellow-shirted helmsman and all-around social-media-guy George Takei. Apparently, when you first sign into Mentions you can't proceed any further until you follow one of Facebook's suggested celebrity accounts. "The first person on the list I was given was George Takei (rolling my eyes.) I ended up choosing Robert Downey Jr. to follow and then I hid his posts (sorry Robert!)."
Facebook launches shared albums, officially making Cluster obsolete
Last week I wrote an article about how pointless the recently released photo-sharing app Cluster -- which raised a ridiculous US$1.6 million in funding -- is, given that the vast majority of its features are already mimicked on more popular services, including Facebook. Today, in an interview with Mashable, Facebook's Bob Baldwin underlined my sentiment in the best way he knew how: by announcing that the social network has just launched its own shared photo album feature. Facebook's shared albums work much like the standard albums that you've likely been using for many years now, but with a few key tweaks. The album creator can invite as many as 50 friends to contribute content to the album, which is a large enough number that nobody should realistically be left out. Varying levels of privacy can then be set based on your needs, allowing the photos to be browsed publicly, by friends or by just the contributors. As far as mobile functionality goes, users will be able to contribute to shared albums automatically, but the ability to actually create these social image portals will be added in the near future. For now, the shared album feature has been rolled out to a limited number of English-speaking Facebook users, which will be expanded to all English-speaking users before spreading worldwide.
Facebook adds OpenTable reservations plus TV, movie information
According to Facebook, over 800 million people access their pages monthly via a mobile device. Now those users will be able to book tables in the 20,000+ restaurants served by OpenTable from within the Facebook Mobile app. You do not need to be a member of OpenTable or leave the Facebook app; just go to your desired restaurant's page on Facebook. This new service, beginning on Monday, according to CNET, is available to iOS and Android users. Mac|Life notes that you can search for your desired restaurant or use Facebook's "Nearby" feature on your iPhone to find a restaurant. They further state that your reservations will not appear in your News Feed nor can you share your reservations with friends, so your privacy is preserved. In addition to this gastronomic boost, Facebook is also adding TV and movie information to their Facebook pages. CNET reports that associated air times, channel information and content descriptions for US prime-time TV shows and movies will appear on the program's Facebook page automatically. Jennifer Van Grove at CNET states, "Both additions turn Facebook's mobile properties into places where people can go to fulfill more of their needs." Leif Johnson at Mac|Life gives Facebook credit for "working to keep itself relevant and to make business pages 'more useful and actionable for people.'"
Get an early look at Facebook Home with these leaked pre-release APKs
Facebook Home's making its official debut on the HTC First and a handful of big-hitting Android handsets this Friday, but MoDaCo has come across a trio of APKs which offer an early taste. The leaked APKs have been stripped from a pre-release HTC First ROM, with MoDaCo noting they're "rather buggy" and not fully functional -- Chat Heads doesn't work, for example. You'll need a handset with a max screen res of 1,280 x 768 and must be able to remove the current Android Facebook app, as the newer APKs won't install otherwise. MoDaCo lists a workaround for phones that have Facebook baked into the ROM, but it'll still need to be rooted. Hit up the source link if you've got the side-loading skills and feel like giving Facebook Home a preliminary poking.
Daily Update for March 25, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Why is Facebook's app so much better lately? Ask Big Nerd Ranch
Facebook's official iOS app has been improving by leaps and bounds lately. First it went native, and then added a series of great new features and redesigned elements piece by piece. In fact, if you were a conspiracy theorist, you might think that Facebook was getting a little help -- and in this case, you'd be right. AllThingsD reports that Facebook has made a deal with the popular iOS dev camp Big Nerd Ranch to provide a weeklong, 40-hour crash course on iOS development to any interested employees. More than 450 of Facebook's employees have gone through the course (mostly software engineers, but not exclusively), and about two-thirds of them have focused on Android rather than iOS. But in general, the deal shows just how important mobile platforms are to Facebook, and if you've been watching the official app lately, you can see just what a great effect it's had. It's worth noting, too, that this is a testament to Big Nerd Ranch and its ability to teach this stuff. I've enjoyed talks from Aaron Hillegass at a few conferences, and our own Brett Terpstra is a huge fan of The Ranch's courses. If you're an iOS developer (or just an aspiring one), it's worth looking into the available programs. For the rest of us, we'll just enjoy the results their teachings, and this vastly superior Facebook iOS experience.
Microsoft 'retiring' Facebook and Twitter Xbox 360 Dashboard apps
Eagle-eyed gamers may have already noticed that the Xbox 360's dedicated Twitter and Facebook apps have gone missing after the latest Dashboard update, and now Redmond has confirmed it's put the applications out to pasture. According to a Microsoft representative that spoke to IGN, the firm is "retiring the Facebook and Twitter apps" as it works to streamline functionality. When asked if the pair of apps will ever make a comeback, Ballmer and Co. didn't comment. Still crave to update your friends on your latest gaming exploits through the console? Spreading the news on the digital grapevine is still possible, but you'll have to access the social networks through the freshly added Internet Explorer app -- an experience we hope Xbox SmartGlass will improve.
Native Facebook app for Android is in the final phases of internal testing
Remember when Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook's HTML5 Android app was a mistake? Well, one of our tipsters, embedded deep inside the Social Network, has let us know that the native version for Google's mobile OS has entered final testing. As such, it won't be long before the software is ready for consumption by the public at large, give or take an angry Winklevii or two. [Thanks, Anonymous]
Zuckerberg: betting on HTML 5 for Facebook mobile app was a 'mistake,' native Android version on the way
Remember the days before Facebook's iOS app ditched HTML 5 and sped things up with some native code? It turns out that there's some regret in Menlo Park about relying on the web markup language. Betting on HTML 5 for the app is "one of the biggest mistakes if not the biggest strategic mistakes we've ever made," Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt today. The firm's CEO also mentioned that new features will be making their way to the app and a snappier Android version is coming down the pike "when it's done."
Washington to become first US state to enroll voters through Facebook
Washington state has commissioned a Facebook app to provide another avenue for its residents to register to vote. Officials will soon post the software, developed by local company Microsoft, on the Secretary of State's page and allow users to like it in order to spread the word. Once it's ready, residents looking at using it will need to allow Facebook access to their personal info and provide a driver's license number or state ID number, which the social network will use to put them on the voter rolls -- but it would have no access to government databases, according to an election director. The state's current online system already saves up to $2 per voter registration, so on top of getting more out to vote, the new effort should keep even more dollars in the coffers.
BBC launches updated, interactive live video player ahead of Olympics; lines up 'summer of 3D'
As the London Olympics creep closer, BBC is unveiling more of the technology it plans to use to bring the Games home to UK viewers. In the last few days it's shown off both the new live video player shown above, as well as a new Facebook app in beta for BBC Sport. The interactive live video player is built to deliver up to 24 HD streams during the Olympics, along with alerts for key events and extra information and stats. It will work on computers and tablets that support Flash, and for those notable ones that don't, there's a stripped down version for mobiles and iPads that loses the extra interactivity. The BBC Sport Facebook app will also be able to stream the Games, but also let you see if any of your friends are watching the same stream or what sport is the most popular. Finally, the Beeb has lined up what it's calling the "Summer of 3D" with a lineup that includes Planet of the Dinosaur, Last Night of the Proms, Wimbledon and the Olympics. There's a lot going on, hit the source links or check the press releases after the break for the highlights.
Facebook for Windows Phone rolls in threaded messaging, tagging, kitchen sink
Some have called Microsoft's Facebook app for Windows Phone a red-headed stepchild to the Android and iOS darlings, but it's making up for lost time in good fashion with a 2.5 update. Those who live a Metro life now get full Facebook conversation threads with group support, so they're not left out of the loop when a friend mentions the pub he wanted to visit two days ago. Along with this more conversational addition, it's now possible to tag a friend or a place in a post using plain "with" and "at" statements, and the seemingly inescapable Like button has reached comments for Windows Phone owners. There's more control over posts and active post links in the mix as well, so you'll find a surfeit of social mingling when you update at the Windows Phone Marketplace link below.
ooVoo opens up 12-way chat on Facebook and the iPad, gives other apps a facelift
If there's some video chat corollary to Moore's Law, ooVoo is adhering to it. Almost a year to the day after announcing six-way calls, the company is expanding its offerings to include 12-way chats on both Facebook and ooVoo's iPad app. It would seem that on FB, at least, that means true 12-way, face-to-face conversations -- an obvious one-up to Facebook's native video calling app, which is powered by Skype. On the iPad, however, that 12-way claim comes with a substantial quid pro quo: while you can partake in chat with 12 people at once, you can only view up to four people's streams at a time. Moving on, folks using ooVoo on Android or the iPhone will notice some UI tweaks starting today, while people plugged into the desktop version will be treated to a more drastic overhaul. Rounding out the list of newsy bits, the ability to record and upload video chats to YouTube, Facebook and Twitter is now free. You can get your update on now at ooVoo.com, the Apple App Store or Google Play, and we've got one last screen shot after the break to help illustrate what's on tap.
Facebook redesigns mobile site and apps, takes a tip (or two) from Instagram
Maybe it was inspired by the other app's most recent update, or perhaps by Zuck's newly-minted commitment to mobile applications. Regardless, Facebook's redesigned its iPhone / iPod and Android apps along with its pocket-sized site, clearly taking some design tips from none other than its fresh acquisition, Instagram. As you can see in the image above, the news feed is now showing one large post rather than the usual two or three (at least on the iPhone / iPod variant), this mainly due to pictures now being up to 3X larger than before. Facebook didn't note any other major changes, and there was no mention on when, or if, this snap-driven design will make its way onto some of those not-so-mobile devices. Be sure to keep an eye out for the redesign, as it's said to be rolling out as we speak.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says mobile apps the top focus, we say it's about time
Facebook has been making a lot of promises during a tour to drum up interest in its ever-nearing IPO, but the one gadget-heads have been wanting to hear the most, a commitment to its mobile apps, has been elusive -- until now. Everyone's favorite hooded CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is telling investors in his home 'burg of the San Francisco Bay that mobile is front and center in his company's plans. We're hoping that means new app features, although Zuck is likely referring to money-making as well: shareholders are jittery knowing that Facebook makes most of its money on web ads that it's not running on smartphones and tablets. Paid titles in App Center will go a long way towards scratching that itch, mind you. As for us, we'll just be happy if Facebook takes less than a year and a half to produce a major tablet app.
Facebook for PS Vita adds photo uploading, support for all system languages
If you were disappointed with the Facebook app for the Vita due to not being able to share your Unit 13 high score screen grabs, then maybe it's time to reconsider. Version 1.01 just landed, and despite sounding like the tiniest incremental increase, there is, in fact, some decent new functionality. Not only can you finally upload images (and therefore those brags scores) to your news feed, you can also tag them, and enjoy any of the system languages of the device while you do so. Enough to win you back? Then point your Vita at the PS store for the goods.
