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Monday, March 18, 2013, 05:31 pm
Facebook updates flagship iOS app with cover photos, group messaging improvements
Facebook on Monday rolled out version 5.6 of its iOS app, bringing a few new features like the ability to change cover photos in-app and enhancements to group messaging.
The update to the ubiquitous social network's app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch comes less than one month after free voice-over-IP calling was added to the app in February, and continues in the merging of the company's various desktop and mobile clients.
Facebook for iOS v5.6 offers users the ability to change their page's cover photo while on the go by either taking a picture or selecting one from the Photos camera roll. This feature is limited to iPhones only.
Group messaging also received some work as it now takes fewer steps to start a session. According to Facebook, the new system makes it easer to name and find group conversations within the app.
Facebook for iOS v5.6 comes in at 25.2MB and is a free download from the App Store.
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Previous Comments View All
When the FB app went from version 4 to 5, it was a huge improvement. Noticeably faster, and better interface.
The last major update was a huge improvement. They made the App native so it was good to shut up the people saying web apps based on HTML5 were going to take over. Native is the only way to go for feature-rich and speedy performance.
1. Why do they call this a 'flagship app'?
2. I don't use FB, but I hear that the app has gotten worse. Did it?
2. No. As others above indicated, release 5.0 did not get worse. It became faster in every respect. A few months prior to that big revision, they launched Messenger, Pages Manager and Camera on iOS. Through successive revisions in the last few months, these apps are better integrated now. The only "complaint" I might have is that they seem to release a new sub-revision every 2 days. We are now at version 5.6 - i.e. v5.0 to v5.6 in just over 6 months. Some software programs do not upgrade that fast in a few years.
I hate Facebook.
No. As others above indicated, release 5.0 did not get worse. It became faster in every respect. A few months prior to that big revision, they launched Messenger, Pages Manager and Camera on iOS. Through successive revisions in the last few months, these apps are better integrated now. The only "complaint" I might have is that they seem to release a new sub-revision every 2 days. We are now at version 5.6 - i.e. v5.0 to v5.6 in just over 6 months. Some software programs do not upgrade that fast in a few years.
Ah, ok, good to read this. I thought it should get better over time.
Yeah, versioning is not something any software company takes serious. Checkout iTunes version history, some dot releases get more features added than major releases.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes_version_history#Version_history
2. No. As others above indicated, release 5.0 did not get worse. It became faster in every respect. A few months prior to that big revision, they launched Messenger, Pages Manager and Camera on iOS. Through successive revisions in the last few months, these apps are better integrated now. The only "complaint" I might have is that they seem to release a new sub-revision every 2 days. We are now at version 5.6 - i.e. v5.0 to v5.6 in just over 6 months. Some software programs do not upgrade that fast in a few years.
yes it got better, but in last 2-3 weeks, the program has slowed to a crawl. Push a picture and it took nearly 45 seconds to 1 minute for it to actually come up. And yes, I am a IT Help Desk, and yes I have fully updated everything (iOS and FB app), rebooted, etc. But the App on both my 4S and first gen iPad along with the roomies 2 devices (his iOS is still on old version) have been acting all the same, super slow. Been using web browser to do anything lately.
Downloading the new app now, hopefully they fixed the leak where ever it was.
PS - just tried... seems they found the leak, back to faster reacting... woot.
I am a IT Help Desk, and yes I have fully updated everything (iOS and FB app), rebooted, etc.
If you want to be a good IT Help Desk understand that rebooting an iPhone won't do you anything; it simply restores a saved state.
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1. Why do they call this a 'flagship app'?
2. I don't use FB, but I hear that the app has gotten worse. Did it?