The Facebook experience on Android devices is notoriously bad. A little too often, things just don’t work like you’d want them to. Facebook realizes this. Last month, reports came out that Facebook began forcing employees to use the Android app, so they can work on making it better.
Earlier this month, Facebook improved the Android SDK.
Now, with a new Android update, Facebook has improved its Messenger app with a new design making it easier to quickly see who’s available, changing the design of the conversation flow, and enabling users to text contacts directly from Messenger (the update will come to iOS soon, the company says). Here’s what it looks like:
The messaging changes also apply to the regular Facebook For Android app. Here’s what’s new in that:
- New button in upper right of News Feed quickly shows who’s available to message
- New design for conversations in Messages
- When sending messages, see who’s active so you and your friends know how soon to expect a reply
- Improvements to make the app more secure and reliable, including bug fixes for errors during multi-photo selections, device restarts, and push notifications
The company is also reportedly testing a photo sync feature on Android, which would work similar to the Google+ Instant Upload feature. If (most likely when) this becomes an actual feature, Facebook users that haven’t dabbled with the Google+ counterpart will probably love it (provided the privacy settings are handled right). Instant Upload was one of the best features of Google+ from the beginning, in my opinion.
Facebook Messenger for Android 2.0 and Android 1.9.10 will be available in the Google Play store today. The new version of the Facebook for Android app also hits Google Play today.