Rumor mills were set abuzz with announcements of an Android smartphone by the social networking giant Facebook on its April 4th event. But it's not so, they have announced “Home”, which isn't a tweaked version of Android, but a system software that integrates deeply into Android OS to make you more sociable. It changes the look and feel of almost everything such as the lock screen, messaging  and notifications. Read more for complete details of release date, availability and compatibility of Home.   

User interface (UI) and design

 Overall Facebook Home feels like an integrated system software rather than a distinct Facebook app. It comes with some incredibly designed user interface (UI) replacements for your android device. Here is a quick overview of all things Home has to offer...  

 Lockscreen: It is replaced by Facebook’s new Cover Feed that neatly presents you all the updates on Facebook. You can comment, like and share these updates without even opening any separate app or unlocking your smartphone. This screen is very intuitive as even status and other updates display your friend’s cover picture crisply as shown below.

Notification system: Notifications are displayed like comic strip bubbles along with the display pictures of your friends. These notifications are completely gesture-controlled like swiping the notifications off the screen and tapping them to expand..


Chat Heads: Chat Heads is a cross between the regular SMS message feature and Facebook messaging. When someone messages you a Chat Head featuring their profile picture will appear. On clicking these chat heads, an overlay will appear containing the contents of the conversation and also allows you to reply to it as shown below. You can start a chat or conversation with your peers from any location almost instantly using this awesome feature of Home. 

Navigation system: Home juggles up the navigation system completely, with a circular icon having your display picture placed at the bottom of your home screen. Single tapping this icon will take you back to the home screen whereas a long tap gives you three choices : Messenger, Apps, Last App as shown below. . 

Availability and Release Date 

 Facebook Home will be rolled out on Google Play Store on April 12th on select Android devices only. These supported devices will be..  
  • HTC First (to be released)
  • Galaxy S3
  • Galaxy S4 
  • HTC One
  • HTC One X+ 
  • Galaxy Note 2 

As is evident from this release, a whole lot of devices running Home will be coming up very soon. However, support for iOS and BlackBerry is still

 Why not iOS ?

 Mark Zuckerberg commented on the future of iOS and Home as quoted below... 

 “We have a great relationship with Apple. Anything that happens with Apple is going to happen with partnership. Google’s Android is open so we don’t have to work with them.”

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 [Photo credits engadget.com]