Facebook's Home on Android/HTC "First Up"

Earlier today Facebook held an event to show off new things for the Android platform. As most of us know Facebook is very popular and most of us use Facebook on our mobile devices. One of the issues that many people that I know have with Facebook is that the mobile apps on Android sucks! It is just painful to use and feels like Facebook just through together an app to please the masses, just by having it. Additionally do not mention the tablet application! With all that said Facebook looks to not only fix those issues but also change the way you use your Android phone.

Facebook Home:

"A phone designed around people, not apps?"

Facebook Home is not just an app, but a new launcher for your Android device. This launcher is a collection of Facebook apps that makes it feel like you have a completely new phone. With home your news feed is accessible right when you turn on your phone, only showing information that you would "care about". Below are the features of home:

• Cover feed: A constant, fresh stream of photos and updates from your newsfeed, cover feed is always present when you wake up your phone.  It lets you stay up-to-date on your friends' latest activities in real-time, all the time.  You can swipe through to see more photos and updates, double tap to "like" a post and comment right from cover feed. 
• Notifications: Notifications from apps and friends appear right on your home screen.  It's easier to see when you have a missed call, calendar reminder or new message. Open a notification with a double tap or clear them away to see your Cover Feed.
• Chat Heads: The mobile messenger lets you jump in and out of conversations while you do other things, like watch a video and browse the web.  Reply right from chat heads, or move them around if you're not ready to respond. Plus you can send and receive texts and Facebook messages from the same spot.
• App Launcher:  See your favorite apps and post right to Facebook from the same spot. You choose what's on your app launcher—press and hold an app then drag it anywhere.      
• Instagram:  HTC First is the only phone that comes with Instagram pre-loaded

"Will you actually use this?"

HTC First:

Facebook Home will be available for most Android phones. HTC has also announced that they will release the first mobile phone designed around Facebook Home. HTC First will be released on 4/12 for $99.99 with a two year contract, exclusively with AT&T. The HTC First will be available in four colors: black, white, red and pale blue.  The hardware is thin, modern and seamless, with soft edges to draw your attention to the updates from friends and family on the 4.3-inch glass display. Inside, the smartphone runs Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) with the new Facebook Home experience and incorporates a Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 400 processor with dual-core CPU and 3G/4G world and multimode LTE so you can enjoy the richest content on AT&T's blazing fast 4G LTE network. (Source)

Facebook Home will be available for download on the Android App Store on April 12th for select devices.

So the question is will you actually use this? Will this deeply integrated version of Android/Facebook catch on with "casual" users? We will see. I personally will try this out when it becomes available for the Galaxy Nexus. Not because I use Facebook that much, but because I want o see if the experience will change they way I would use Facebook and/or my phone! Until then enjoy!
~Six3GeeK

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About J. Martel

A co-created Fan blog with a mission to share views, ideas and opinions on many topics. To include Comics, Tech, Gadgets, Video Games, Music, Movies, Interviews, WWE, and more.