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Facebook Bringing Chat Heads to Its iOS Apps, Updated iPad Version With New Streamlined Design [Update: Live]

Chat Heads?

I read the article and watched the video. I'm still not sure I get what Chat Heads are. Are they just giant emoticons you can send? If so, am I missing something by not seeing how this is revolutionary or, really, all that important? (Serious question. Not trying to be hard-to-please. I'm sure I'll upgrade tonight and see what it's all about anyway.)
 
RMo said:
I read the article and watched the video. I'm still not sure I get what Chat Heads are. Are they just giant emoticons you can send? If so, am I missing something by not seeing how this is revolutionary or, really, all that important? (Serious question. Not trying to be hard-to-please. I'm sure I'll upgrade tonight and see what it's all about anyway.)
Click to expand...

Chat Heads are moveable avatars that allow quick access to send and reply to messages. The emoticons are "stickers".
 
I honestly do not see the added value of those chat bubbles in the iPhone app and quite frankly find them very annoying. Before the update, messages were easily accessible by clicking on the icon on top and going to the conversation with an additional click. Alternatively, if you do receive a message you will receive a push notification that will take you to the conversation directly.

The only difference seems to be that once you open a conversation, the bubble appears on top which gives you direct access to the conversation. However, once you close the conversation, the bubble simply remains and floats on top of your already limited space until you decide to close it by dragging it to the bottom. However, as soon as you re-open the conversation, the bubble re-appears again. Thus now I have to take the additional step of dragging the bubble away. So far there seems to be no way to disable them.

The outset seems to be easier access to your messages, but in what way? Instead of clicking on the message icon on top I can click on the bubble and go to the conversation directly. A time-saver of a split second. :/

I think I will use the messenger app, hopefully it won't be updated anytime soon.
 
Rocco83 said:
What is the advantage of social media over simply having someone's number and texting/calling them? Am I honestly the only person who doesn't care about what happened to everyone I went to school with, pictures/video of what someone's "cute" puppy did last night, or the instant location updates of 500 people slamming at me as "updates"?

If I really need to know where someone is I call them or text them. If I want to know what is happening with someone I went to school with I can call or text them. I thought Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/"insert new irrelevant, too late to the social media party name here" were only relevant for people who want to replace their lack of a life with cute .gifs and videos of old people dancing.
Click to expand...

You are right, who needs texting when you have a cell phone with voice capabilities....

Who needs a cell phone when you have a landline...

Who needs a landline when you have morse code....

Who needs morse code when i could just talk to you in person...

:rolleyes:
 
Rocco83 said:
What is the advantage of social media over simply having someone's number and texting/calling them? Am I honestly the only person who doesn't care about what happened to everyone I went to school with, pictures/video of what someone's "cute" puppy did last night, or the instant location updates of 500 people slamming at me as "updates"?

If I really need to know where someone is I call them or text them. If I want to know what is happening with someone I went to school with I can call or text them. I thought Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/"insert new irrelevant, too late to the social media party name here" were only relevant for people who want to replace their lack of a life with cute .gifs and videos of old people dancing.
Click to expand...

You're definitely not. Agree 100%. Tired of anti-social social networking. Put down the device and reconnect with friends in person. There's a world out there away from your devices, we're becoming the fat, lazy people in "Wall-e".
 
This app update will not result in me reinstalling a Facebook app on my iOS devices.
 
Just another reason why apple needs to open up iOS. Not that I would want chats popping up in all my apps... but still...
 
KALLT said:
I honestly do not see the added value of those chat bubbles in the iPhone app and quite frankly find them very annoying. Before the update, messages were easily accessible by clicking on the icon on top and going to the conversation with an additional click. Alternatively, if you do receive a message you will receive a push notification that will take you to the conversation directly.

The only difference seems to be that once you open a conversation, the bubble appears on top which gives you direct access to the conversation. However, once you close the conversation, the bubble simply remains and floats on top of your already limited space until you decide to close it by dragging it to the bottom. However, as soon as you re-open the conversation, the bubble re-appears again. Thus now I have to take the additional step of dragging the bubble away. So far there seems to be no way to disable them.

The outset seems to be easier access to your messages, but in what way? Instead of clicking on the message icon on top I can click on the bubble and go to the conversation directly. A time-saver of a split second. :/

I think I will use the messenger app, hopefully it won't be updated anytime soon.
Click to expand...

I haven't used it yet, but after watching a review and the video above that is exactly how I feel about the bubbles. They look to me just like the ads that always show up on youtube videos on the bottom that all I ever do with them is make them go away because they are covering up what I want to see. I don't really see the need to have a picture attached to whoever I am messaging, I can remember who I am talking to, and if it's a new conversation there are plenty of really easy ways to see who it was quickly. I feel like this method is just too intrusive.
 
thisisdallas said:
How is it gimped? If anything, this is a better version than what is offered on Android. Facebook Home is a heap of garbage. If I really want to see my news feed, I'll go ahead and open the app. I don't care to see random memes and "SHARE THIS IF U LUV JESUS!!!" on my homescreen. Nor do I want to have floating pictures of my friends in order to message them. If they message me currently, it shows up as a clean notification in which I can tap and begin replying to, or ignore it. What's so wrong with that?
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Errr...because you get the OPTION to have the floating heads as a stand alone part of the messenger app if you want it. It has absolutely zero to do with Home.

You can also run it just like you describe on Android. You get to do what you want.

How this still escapes people I will never know. To think that Apple is somehow the final say on all that is Right and Good in computer land is just so weird to me. There is so much you just can't do on iOS...because Apple says so? Why even bother? At this rate Android will eventually pull so far ahead in functionality and features that absolutely no one will be able to deny it's superiority. In my opinion, it's there already, but you only realize it after using a device. Eventually it will be so obvious on the surface that Apple will be forced to make a change, if they haven't already by that point.
 
Who cares, if I wanted Facebook Home I'd consider buying an Android device. Since I haven't, and with all the one star ratings for Facebook Home on the Play Store, why in the hell would I want this crap on my iPhone/iPad.
 
Just for anyone else trying to figure out how to use the new Chat Heads feature:

It's not available yet. The app supports them, but Facebook hasn't made the feature live yet.
 
Facebook is a company that makes 5 BILLION in revenue and only 53 million in profit and their best "products" are Chat Heads that get in the way, giant stickers for chat, an Android Launcher that pales in comparison to other launchers, and a social product that is probably a few steps away from a giant security/privacy nightmare.

This company is terrible and they are much overhyped. Apple and Google are best to stay away from Facebook as much as possible until Facebook becomes what Myspace is now. No wonder Google CEO Larry Page thinks Facebook is doing a bad job, anyone can see that Facebook is a mess.
 
I've always thought it was funny about how much people here whine and complain like scared and bitter children for an app and service they supposedly don't even use.
 
dgree03 said:
You are right, who needs texting when you have a cell phone with voice capabilities....

Who needs a cell phone when you have a landline...

Who needs a landline when you have morse code....

Who needs morse code when i could just talk to you in person...

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

You need to slow your roll a second. It is one thing to actually talk to someone without using whatever language it is teenagers created or emoticons, but to talk to them in person is just plain unnecessary... Either way I appreciate you finding my lack of necessity for social media to somehow mean I'm afraid of advancement. Although I find that depersonalizing everything behind screens and emoticons isn't an evolution in communication, but a devolution.

There was a study that teens and pre-teens are starting to understand less and less facial queues and signs because they spend most of their time communicating to friends behind monitors and screens. Excuse me if I find this to be a bad thing.

I'd much rather sit down and have a coffee with a friend and catch up with them rather than like a comment of theirs on Facebook, so they then thumbs up one of my pictures on Instagram, I then get a notification of their tweet that they are having beers downtown, so I shoot them a text to ask if I can join. We then get together, put a few back, LOL at how fat the waitress is. He tweets a picture of her, and I link his picture and LOL in my facebook status. We then like each others posts...If this is the evolution of communication I'll sit back and happily wait for the next patch.
 
I updated but did not get chatheads (still get banners within the app) or stickers?!

akindy said:
Just for anyone else trying to figure out how to use the new Chat Heads feature:

It's not available yet. The app supports them, but Facebook hasn't made the feature live yet.
Click to expand...

That's not true, my friend updated and he has chatheads.
 
Rocco83 said:
What is the advantage of social media over simply having someone's number and texting/calling them? Am I honestly the only person who doesn't care about what happened to everyone I went to school with, pictures/video of what someone's "cute" puppy did last night, or the instant location updates of 500 people slamming at me as "updates"?

If I really need to know where someone is I call them or text them. If I want to know what is happening with someone I went to school with I can call or text them. I thought Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/"insert new irrelevant, too late to the social media party name here" were only relevant for people who want to replace their lack of a life with cute .gifs and videos of old people dancing.
Click to expand...

:confused:TBH I don't really know why you are telling me this. I was wondering why Mr. Gates wanted everyone to move to Google+ .

Anyway, I do enjoy staying in contact with friends, relatives and aquaintances, especially as I've spent parts of my life in entirely different countries and therefor have all sorts of different "groups" of people in my life. And most of these people use it for far more interesting things than "cute .gifs" or "videos of old people dancing".

Of course you can criticize the quality of this way of "staying in touch", but one way of contact does not exclude the other, personal contact, even though Social Media-"haters" pretty much make it sound that way every single time. Whatever...
 
Bill Killer said:
They're not mutually exclusive. You can use Facebook a lot and still maintain a healthy social life.
Click to expand...

Didn't you know? When you register with Facebook, you automatically quit all other social activies and all of your friends change into virtual
"Facebook friends" and you spend the rest of your life at the computer.

"/s"
 
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