Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg today introduced “Home,” a new family of Android apps for devices powered by Google’s little green robot.
Facebook’s new offering is replacing the standard interface on an Android phone, modifying the appearance and function of the device to unique user-determined settings.
“In the case of Facebook home,” Kevin Bostic of Apple Insider writes, “the launcher reorients the device away from an app-centric interface and centers it around a user’s contacts. Introducing Home, Zuckerberg said that reorientation was the main goal in its design.”
In short, Android-powered smartphones will have the ability to be more Facebook-centric.
“What would it feel like,” Zuckerberg asked, “if our phones were designed around people instead of apps?”
With Facebook Home, users can find out.
Salvador Rodriguez of the LA Times says Home allows users to “see the latest content shared by their friends on the lock screen of their phones. Friends’ photos and status updates appear, and users can swipe left and right to see more content. Users can also ‘like’ or comment on the content straight from the screen, which Facebook calls the Cover Feed.”
Facebook Home will be available for Android users, the company says, with the latest version of the Facebook app. From there, Facebook Home will be updated each month.
Over time, Zuckerberg confirmed, Home will come home to Android-powered tablets as well, although no time-frame was given on this assured eventuality.
