Facebook releases new app for lower-end, less-capable phones (Wired UK)

Facebook releases new app for lower-end, less-capable phones

By Alice Vincent

13 July 11

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Facebook has extended its vice-like grip on those who like to poke on the go by releasing an app that brings the social networking site to over 2,500 phones.

The Facebook for Every Phone app brings a simplified version of Facebook, albeit one still involving the essential features of News Feed, Inbox and Photos, to those without top-of-the-range smartphones.

The app has given Facebook a much more basic look, with bigger icons acting as shortcuts to navigate the user around their network. The News Feed is also much cleaner and it's easier to click onto somebody's profile or pictures from a status update.

However, the app's focus is definitely on photos. Looking at them, tagging them and instantly uploading them is now all much easier for users with less capable handsets. The app allows users to take a photo directly from the home screen, followed by an offer of editing and tagging options before they are uploaded onto your profile.

It's undeniably smoother, quicker, and much better for Facebook stalking than the existing web-based interface that preceded it. Furthermore, in the spirit of accessibility, Facebook has collaborated with carriers, including Three in the UK, to offer free data access to the app for 90 days. However, the app is optimised to use less data than other mobile sites or Java apps, so it's cheaper if you finish the trial without a data plan.

You can download the browser by tapping in m.facebook.com into your browser and scrolling down to the download link.

via wired.co.uk