It’s about time! Late last night Facebook issued an update to their recently announced app beta channel, and it brought some features and changes we’ve been waiting far too long for. The new Facebook Beta v3.5 finally removes the huge black bar and legacy menu button for smartphones that don’t have a hardware menu button. Thanks Facebook, many HTC owners will be happy to see this.
However, the process isn’t perfect and some devices like the Galaxy S4 and its physical menu and home button still are acting weird. Some users Facebook has the 3 dots for menu down below, others there’s only a sidebar. It’s a little messed up, but at least it is a start.
Then there’s another major feature we should of had back in 2010, and that is the option to save photos to our phone from the Facebook app. This latest beta once you’re viewing a photo a quick tap will bring up the option to save photo, as you can see from our image below. Jeez. Two things are finally here, it’s just a shame it took so long. Any who, here’s the full Facebook beta v3.5 changelog:
Here’s what we’re working on in this version:
– Save photos: We added an option to save photos to your phone from the photo viewer
– Menu bar: We’ve removed the on-screen menu bar from the bottom of the app for people whose phones don’t have a hardware menu button
– Notification scrolling: When you scroll to the end of your recent notifications, older notifications will load automatically
– Photos loading in News Feed: We think we’ve addressed a problem that’s causing some people to see blank spaces where there should be photos
– Bug fixes: We fixed some known issues that were causing the app to crashNew if you’re using Facebook Home:
– Your phone’s status bar now shows at the top of the lock screen by default
So far the new Facebook beta appears to be running quite smooth over here for us, and we’re enjoying the option to save photos finally. We’re expecting this to roll out for the main app in the next week or two, so stay tuned.
We do have a few complaints still. Facebook should seriously consider adding expandable notification support now that so many users are enjoying Android 4.1+ Jelly Bean, and maybe, just maybe one day we’ll get a useful tablet UI. Details on how to become a beta tester can be found right here. Give it a go and enjoy!
VIA: Facebook
