Facebook Home is hitting Canadian Android devices today, as long as you’re rocking a Samsung Galaxy S3 or Note II, or a HTC One X or One X+. Future devices like the Nexus 4, along with the upcoming HTC One and Galaxy S4, will also be compatible in the near future.
Facebook has been heavily pushing its Home app to users of its social network, claiming it puts people first. The main issue, however, with the current build available to devices like the GS3 or One X is that it severely limits the use of important launcher features like widgets, and it replaces the lock screen. Notifications are also hidden until you swipe down from the top of the screen to expose the bar, which seems like a lot of work just to regain some of the functionality sacrificed in the first place.
As a result, Facebook Home may have a narrow scope of users, but it promises to be a hugely successful venture nonetheless. Its global availability today marks its expansion outside of the United States, earlier than expected, which means that the company must believe it to be stable and worthy of a significantly wider user base.
Facebook for iOS is also receiving an update today, bringing the same Chat Heads feature found in the Android Messenger app. These floating heads, while functionally identical to their Android counterparts, are limited to use within the Facebook app itself, as iOS disallows the system-wide changes necessary to enable the feature outside of the core app. Facebook is also adding stickers — huge, cutesy emojis — to send to friends and family, further attempting to coerce users away from apps like Line and KakaoTalk in the Asian market.
The iPad version has been overhauled with a cleaner news feed that feels more like the desktop version, bringing consistently-sized images and fonts to a smoother vertical scrolling experience.
Download Facebook Home for Android. Ensure you also have the latest versions of Facebook and Messenger, too.
Download Facebook for iOS.
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