Facebook for Android 2.0 has officially been handed over to ardent social networkers through which, activities can now be performed faster. The introduction seems like yet another attempt by the company to nab Android owners’ attention, considering how other services like Twitter have been showering their tools with updates.
As per the company, the app is twice as fast as its older versions with regards to many aspects that complement the social networking site. The latest upgrade has been built on native code as opposed to its predecessor that is based on HTML5. Apparently, this is one of the major reasons the app could step away from its dawdling performance.
A number of the software’s core features have been optimized for native code. The news feed and the Timeline are few such attributes that have undergone this process in order to grant people with swift operations while accessing the app.
With Facebook for Android 2.0, users will find accessing the service and viewing pictures faster than before. Even interacting with online friends is said to have received a boost.
The developers claim to have realized that there were a host of performance challenges they had to find solutions to. For instance, reduction in garbage collection was made to prevent the app from pausing or faltering.
Also, iOS devices have been taking advantage of the software in native code since August. In addition to the latest update, the Facebook SDK 3.0 for Android tool has been release into the wild as well.
Of course, users can still carry out the mundane activities that the service allows. They can keep a track of their friends’ actions, upload photos and videos, receive notifications and have personal as well as group chats, only this time the revised edition could help them do it all faster.
The Facebook for Android 2.0 update can be downloaded for free through the Google Play store. According to Frank Qixing Du, who is an engineer on the Facebook team, the new release lays a foundation for the software through which, the company plans on making the service faster and smoother.
Google Play’s What’s New section points at the following changes in the updated edition:
News feed and Timeline load faster
Photos open with a tap
New Stories bar presents more stories without refreshing