Facebook has released an update for its Android app that gives users of its Home launcher access to folders, one of its most requested items. The release of this feature, while may appear to be minor, was announced two months ago at a company Whiteboarding session.
Other updates included in this release are the ability to store the app right on your phone’s SD memory card — for those with Android 2.3.7 and lower, sharing News Feed stories inside a private message, and swiping on the screen to open chats and bookmarks.
The ability for users to store Facebook for Android right within their SD card is somewhat fascinating. It could be a way to allow users to store the app right on the device without taking up precious storage space, which is rather finite.
Being able to share News Feed stories from within messages is definitely an improvement that has yet to arrive on Facebook’s iOS app. Now, users can privately share posts that their contacts upload with others. Rather than linking to the Facebook URL directly, users could just tap on the “Share” link and post it to a message.
Lastly, one of the newest features is the ability to swipe left and right on the Android device screen to open chats and bookmarks, highlighting Facebook’s attempt to streamline and simplify the effort needed to access information.
Since its release in April, Facebook Home has been heavily criticized by people over its disappointing performance. The social networking company promised that it would be releasing monthly updates every four weeks to help improve the experience. Today’s move follows its last update where Facebook added a docking feature to its launcher. The company says that its team is working on implementing widget support next.
In the end, with these three features implemented, Facebook hopes that its Home launcher will be “on par” with stock Android launchers currently out in the marketplace.
Facebook is also touting its Android beta program in today’s update, which it revealed last month.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.