Facebook may be the world’s largest social network with over one billion monthly active members, but Mark Zuckerberg’s attention towards mobile users has been somewhat lacking, until now. The official Facebook app for mobile devices is generally one of the most downloaded apps available, regardless of the platform, the company’s decision to produce their mobile software using HTML5 is one that dramatically backfired and resulted in the the founder himself admitting that it was a fairly large and costly mistake.
With the HTML5 fiasco left in the past and iOS users now enjoying a native Objective-C experience, the latest follow-up rumor is that users of the Android Facebook app are about to be awarded the same treatment with an update to the app on the Play Store that makes the change from the cross-platform language to the native tongue of Google’s mobile operating system. We are yet to hear about this through official channels but a tipster from within Facebook has hinted that the native Android app is currently undergoing final testing and is awaiting a nod for release.
If the update to the existing app is indeed in the final testing stage of its lifecycle then users of Android smartphones and tablets should hopefully be able to see it appearing on the Play Store as a download or update sooner rather than later. The great news is; if the update is anything like the change to the iOS app, then Android users will be in for a huge surprise in the form of blazing fast data reload speeds, seamless scrolling and notifications that work pretty much all the time and are accurate.
With the social network recently announcing that they have surpassed the one billion members mark, and with a large proportion of that membership base accessing their accounts from a mobile device, it is plainly evident that Facebook recognizes the importance of a stable and reliable portal for mobile users. The good news is that the company has been making the right noises recently about their desire to focus heavily on mobile. Here’s to hoping that the native Android update brings the same jubilation that was attached with the relatively recent native iOS offering.
(via Engadget)
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