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Facebook Update Brings Larger Photos to iPhone & Android

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Facebook users that mostly use mobile apps to access the social network should start seeing a new layout today.

The new layout reduces the amount of white space by making photos in the news feed three times larger than they were before. The new design also separates individual status updates and photos by placing them all on a grey-blue background. The result is a more attractive layout that should make the app more enjoyable.

The social network announced a new layout that is starting to roll out across the iOS and Android apps as well as m.facebook.com. The new layout is rolling out slowly at first, those who mostly use the mobile apps to connect to Facebook will see the new layout first, and others will see it soon after.

Strangely, the new Facebook news feed layout looks very similar to the new layout of Google+ that hit the iPhone last week. Unlike Google+, however, everything else in the Facebook mobile app will stay the same. The new layout doesn’t require an app update, which lets Facebook stagger the rollout. By updating its app, Google+ pushed its new design to every iPhone user at once.

Because the new layout doesn’t come with an app update, it won’t fix any of our problems with the app. That means the app can still make every picture into a picture of Mark Zuckerberg. It also means the iPad app is still as bad as ever. The new layout looks great, but we’d also like a more stable app.

Maybe then we won’t have to resort to third-party Facebook apps.

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Mark Strohecker

    05/15/2012 at 6:50 am

    I have a LG android and yesterday the 14th my son got the update for his phone and I didn’t.We got the exact phone and don’t understand it.Is there a way to send me a link to download it?Please let me know.Thanks,Mark

  2. MZ

    05/15/2012 at 8:15 pm

    I got the new layout on my samsung galaxy s2, but now when a friend shares a photo I can only see a large photo but am not able to see the news feed story. Previously, the photo was smaller and the news feed story appeared next to it. Any ideas?

  3. jeff

    05/21/2012 at 5:02 pm

    Prefer the old version, small pics, less scrolling. If I wanto see the large version of the photo I only need to click it. They should of enlarged the text not the pics we aint all 25 yrs old. A zoom feature would be a good idea as well

  4. Puno

    06/05/2012 at 7:00 am

    Hey Shawn,

    My husband and I (mainly my husband) have been experimenting with a new way to look at your facebook feed. To Jeff’s point, it’s catered to the 25 year olds who consume image and video heavily.

    We make the video and images HUGE!
    We autoplay and loop videos to move past the “What is this thumbnail mean?”
    We show related video and content

    Check out if you have a chance and let us know your thoughts. It’s an experiment we’re playing around with – nothing too serious.

    Interestingly enough, the layout is similar to Facebook Mobile when below 930px.

    http://www.octofeed.com

    Word,
    Puno

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