Facebook Released New Software Called Home for Android Phones

Facebook on 4 April 2013 released the software called Home, which puts the feeds from Facebook on Android phones’ home screen. Software would become the wrapper for Android operating system. It will become the primary way of handling the phone.

The images, messages as well as the notifications will be visible on the main screen of Android phones. Earlier, these were accessible through the downloadable application.

The Home software of Facebook will conceal all other applications and will pipe the entire content as well as the chat performed through Facebook, on the home screen. The software will also alter the technique in which the messages and content is being swapped. By making use of the Home Software, the users will be able to respond to these messages or content by tapping the pop-up images (called chat heads), instead of opening the apps and searching through the menus.

Home software will be available through Google's Play Store. It can be downloaded easily and will only be operational on the phones which run on Android 4.0 or higher versions. Facebook’s Home will be accessible from 12 April 2013 onwards on six devices, three of which are from HTC and three from Samsung. But as of now, only four devices are available. Rest of the two will be launched along with Facebook Home software.

Initially, Home will only be available for the phones, but later it will also be developed for the tablets. Facebook figures suggested that the users spent around 25 percent time on handsets for looking at the feeds or chatting with their friends on Facebook. The fourth quarter earnings of Facebook also showcased that around 23 percent of revenue which came from advertising was available through the advertisements shown to the mobile users.