Facebook has just delivered a couple of treats for Android developers who want to integrate the biggest social networking service into their apps. The latest version of the Facebook SDK for Android brings in a couple of new features such as a simplified sharing process, app events tracking, and a revamped login interface.
The new Share Dialog simplifies sharing activities from apps. With just a single line of code, apps enable users to quickly share an activity, tag friends, and share their location, without the need to login to Facebook, saving users up to 3 steps in the process. Also new in this release is support for Facebook’s Object API, allowing developers to create Open Graph objects directly in their apps instead of relying on a hosted web page. Open Graph is the system Facebook uses to create “stories” such as “John Smith just finished reading The Book” that an e-book reader app might post on a user’s timeline.
Entering into beta in this SDK release is App Events, which lets developers measure the number of times a predefined action was performed by a user, such as checking out a shopping cart or earning a level in a game. Facebook has also changed the design of the login screen based on user feedback and usability testing. Apps using the Facebook LoginButton control will immediately get the updated screen and developers will still be able to override the default text.
The new Facebook SDK for Android is already available for download. Facebook has also included links to instructions on how to use the new features in Android apps.
SOURCE: Facebook
