Facebook held its annual F8 developer conference in San Jose, California, last Tuesday and Wednesday. After yet another scandal-ridden year, the company shared updates on the different apps it owns:
- Messenger
1. Facebook’s new design has no blue in it from now on. Rolled out in the US.
The redesign is the most significant change since its launch. The desktop redesign, which will begin testing in the next few months, will update the web design to look and feel more modern and fresh, similar to the mobile app. It has already begun on both iOS and Android and will continue to do so over the coming months.
2. Facebook Messenger is getting a desktop app for Windows and Mac.
A new version of Facebook Messenger is launching for desktop. This feature will also allow group calling from now on. This is now a direct competition to Apple’s iMessenger and FaceTime.
3. You’ll be able to watch a video with multiple people over Messenger in real time now.
A “group watch” feature is under testing where you can invite others to watch a video together and comment simultaneously.
4. Instagram has a new Create Mode
On the Instagram app, the camera feature is getting an upgrade. You can now find some interesting features for stories. You can also use the different coloured backgrounds available for stories after the upgrade.
5. Instagram is hiding the number of Likes on posts
Instagram is looking to remove like counts from posts, with only the creator able to see their total number of likes. Considering that the majority of Instagram users are aged under 34, there’s no debating that this could be a better option when it comes to focusing on the positive side.
6. Facebook is making it easier for you to date your friends.
In a new turn of events Facebook is rolling out a feature called “Secret Crush” which lets users pick nine of their friends they have a crush on. If any of the friends choose you, you get a notification of it. We will have to wait and watch how users take to this new (creepy?) update.
7. Businesses can now display entire product catalogues directly on their WhatsApp profiles.
Customers can browse through entire catalogues of businesses on WhatsApp now. This is a feature that can help many small businesses to reach out directly to the audience with the complete information.
8. Some influencers can add shopping tags to posts now.
Instagram is slowly but surely gaining momentum in the shopping sector. With influencers and influencer marketing being popular now, Instagram is now allowing shopping tags with a direct checkout from the app.
9. Groups will be an important part of Facebook.
Interest based groups are being promoted on Facebook. This will help people to find it easier to share related content on the groups. According to stats, in 2017, 100 million Facebook users were part of different groups. It is improving the groups features and is making it a prominent part of the audience’s experience on the platform.
10. “The future is private.”
“Privacy gives us the freedom to be ourselves … so it’s no surprise that’s the fastest way we’re communicating online is small groups,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in his privacy focused speech. He highlighted Facebook’s efforts towards creating a private social platform across all mediums including Instagram, Messenger, Facebook and WhatsApp.
Let us know what your thoughts are on these F8 updates in the comments section below.
