Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Facebook Planning Significant iOS App Updates as Head Mobile Engineer Returns to Apple

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,553
30,881



Facebook is preparing significant updates for its primary iOS app and its Facebook Messenger app in the near future, reports 9to5Mac. The main Facebook for iOS app will reportedly feature the social network's "Graph Search" feature, which was introduced last year and allows for users to enter specific search queries for better results. Meanwhile, an updated Facebook Messenger app is set to feature iOS contacts integration and sport a look with heavy white space similar to the design aesthetic of iOS 7, with another version similar in looks to the Messages app on iOS also being tested.

facebook_apps.png
The report also states that Greg Novick, who was part of a group of Apple engineers hired by Facebook last year during a recruiting drive to work on its iOS app, has been rehired by Apple for an unstated role. Novick had previously been the Engineering Manager of iPhone Applications and Frameworks at Apple, and was a designer of the software that appeared on the original iPhone.

Both Facebook and Facebook Messenger are free universal apps for iOS devices and can be downloaded through the following links:

- Facebook [Direct Link]
- Facebook Messenger [Direct Link]

Article Link: Facebook Planning Significant iOS App Updates as Head Mobile Engineer Returns to Apple
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/10/09/facebook-planning-significant-ios-app-updates-as-head-mobile-engineer-returns-to-apple/
Northgrove

Northgrove

macrumors 65816
Aug 3, 2010
1,149
437
I'd be ready to bet money on that the Graph Search feature won't be available on anything but the English version of Facebook for iOS.
 
A

abz1981

macrumors 65816
Jan 3, 2011
1,013
4
Greg Novick is probably coming back because Facebook Home was an epic fail.
 
C

CJK

macrumors member
Jun 29, 2007
92
9
The Mountain Empire
iOS 7

I don't understand the drive to make every app look exactly like Apple's own apps. So now FB Messenger is going to have tiny, unrecognizable discs for avatars and stretchy, flat message bubbles that fade as you scroll? Seriously? Why??

iOS 7's UI is really a giant step backwards in terms of "at a glance" usability, in my opinion. Hate to see more apps heading in that direction.
 
smizzle

smizzle

macrumors regular
Sep 15, 2010
161
132
Pittsburgh, PA
Thank god. Maybe someone at Apple can hold their hands and walk them through making push notifications work, since Facebbok obviously can't figure it out on their own.
 
R

rmatthewware

macrumors 6502
Jul 22, 2009
493
125
CJK said:
iOS 7's UI is really a giant step backwards in terms of "at a glance" usability, in my opinion. Hate to see more apps heading in that direction.
Click to expand...

I'll have to disagree with you there. While there are some annoying quirks, I find I'm able to get to my needed at a glance info much easier. Especially when it comes to viewing my schedule for that day.
 
smizzle

smizzle

macrumors regular
Sep 15, 2010
161
132
Pittsburgh, PA
CJK said:
I don't understand the drive to make every app look exactly like Apple's own apps. So now FB Messenger is going to have tiny, unrecognizable discs for avatars and stretchy, flat message bubbles that fade as you scroll? Seriously? Why??
Click to expand...

While I agree that making your app white and changing the avatars to circles misses the point of the iOS 7 redesign, it's fair to point out that Facebook had round chatheads before iOS 7...
 
wolfshades

wolfshades

macrumors 6502
Nov 1, 2007
485
625
Toronto, Ontario Canada
PinkyMacGodess said:
Not again... Haven't they futs with it enough?
Click to expand...

Not really. Not yet anyway (though I couldn't care less about the graph feature). When the iPad/iPhone experience at least mimics the desktop experience, then they'll have done enough. For example: why is it that my only choices to handle my comments when accessing FB on my iPad are copy and delete? Why do I have to go to the web version to edit?
 
S

sclawis300

macrumors 65816
Apr 22, 2010
1,472
196
5t3f4n said:
There's probably a higher chance of them dropping iPhone 4 support entirely than that happening.
Click to expand...

isn't it linked to the OS? how could they come up with something that runs on ios 7 but not on iphone 4?

----------

for the sake of my sanity. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make 'most recent' actually be the most recent AND let me keep that selection instead of defaulting back to 'news feed' EVERY TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
TonyC28

TonyC28

macrumors 68030
Aug 15, 2009
2,758
6,938
USA
sclawis300 said:


----------

for the sake of my sanity. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make 'most recent' actually be the most recent AND let me keep that selection instead of defaulting back to 'news feed' EVERY TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

I agree!!! That has to be the most annoying "feature" of the Facebook app. They always talk about algorithms and complicated stuff. How hard can it be to make John Smith's post from 12:01 appear ahead of Jane Johnson's post from 12:00?????
Hopefully they can do some good for the app, but if history has shown us anything it's that they will redesign it and introduce a bunch of new problems.
 
PinkyMacGodess

PinkyMacGodess

Suspended
Mar 7, 2007
10,271
6,226
Midwest America.
wolfshades said:
Not really. Not yet anyway (though I couldn't care less about the graph feature). When the iPad/iPhone experience at least mimics the desktop experience, then they'll have done enough. For example: why is it that my only choices to handle my comments when accessing FB on my iPad are copy and delete? Why do I have to go to the web version to edit?
Click to expand...

I guess I've gotten used to all of the UI's looking different... At one point, I couldn't delete posts on the iPad. It was rather inconvenient... Asking for the same functionality, even if the look is different shouldn't be a difficult concept...
 
mdelvecchio

mdelvecchio

macrumors 68040
Sep 3, 2010
3,151
1,149
PinkyMacGodess said:
Not again... Haven't they futs with it enough?
Click to expand...

not until i can comment on every photo separately when doing a batch upload to an album.

----------
rmatthewware said:
I'll have to disagree with you there. While there are some annoying quirks, I find I'm able to get to my needed at a glance info much easier. Especially when it comes to viewing my schedule for that day.
Click to expand...

i agree with him on the decreased at-a-glance usability. the Today screen is nice, but in general things are smaller, thinner/lighter, and harder to scan. perfect example is the Calendar icon -- the very light helvetica is harder to scan and thus takes more time to parse when glancing at the homescreen.
 
mattdo93

mattdo93

macrumors 6502a
Oct 2, 2010
532
74
I still don't see the point of having Messenger when the main Facebook app messages just fine
 
R

RoboCop001

macrumors 68000
Oct 4, 2005
1,561
451
Toronto, Canada
5t3f4n said:
There's probably a higher chance of them dropping iPhone 4 support entirely than that happening.
Click to expand...

Probably. I'd love to see the source code though. It must be so unoptimized. That's my guess, anyway. Does it run totally fine on a 4S? Maybe it's meant to run on multi core phones. But it isn't even doing anything complicated. There's no reason they can't be as efficient as possible.
 
I

itguy06

macrumors 6502a
Mar 8, 2006
849
1,139
sclawis300 said:
[/COLOR]for the sake of my sanity. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make 'most recent' actually be the most recent AND let me keep that selection instead of defaulting back to 'news feed' EVERY TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

+1BILLION.

Facebook: I don't care about the news feed one bit. It is useless. I don't care about most commented posts. And when I set it to show me in chronological order, that's what I want to see. Not the BS News Feed that I have to change and then wait forever for your stupid app to reload!!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom