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| Homescreen on Facebook Home for Androids. Credit: Facebook |
The long awaited day rumoured to be the day that Facebook would launch a Phone has come but alas, no Phone.
However, Facebook has introduced “Facebook Home” – an Android “app” that will change your home screen and core features. It will be released in the Play Store on April 12, with an update coming every month.
“You’re going to be able to turn your Android phone into a great social device,” Zuckerberg said at the unveiling. “Our phones today are designed around apps, not people. We want to flip that around.”
Facebook Home will put updates from the social network right on the home screen via a feature called Cover Feed. Content from Facebook takes up the entire screen, with no navigation or “chrome” whatsoever. Apps are still there, accessed through a launcher that is accessible by swiping up.
Home will be available as a free download in the U.S. only on April 12 from Google Play. It won’t work on all Android phones, but will initially work on the HTC One X, HTC One X+, Samsung Galaxy S3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Home will also work on the forthcoming HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4, “and on more devices in the coming months,” a Facebook spokesperson said.
“It’s in the spirit of slow roll out,” said Zuckerberg.
HTC announced that a new smartphone called First would be the first phone to pre-install Facebook Home, and be available on AT&T in the United States from April 12 for $99.99.
