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Facebook Home Has A Few Perks For Developers As Well

At its much hyped Android event today, Facebook unveiled Home, a custom set of apps that transform any ol’ Android phone into a Facebook phone. The event was mostly focused on what Home can do f...
Facebook Home Has A Few Perks For Developers As Well
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  • At its much hyped Android event today, Facebook unveiled Home, a custom set of apps that transform any ol’ Android phone into a Facebook phone. The event was mostly focused on what Home can do for users, but Facebook wants its stable of developers to know that Home is for them as well.

    First up, the Cover Feed is advantageous for developers as it lets users access app content as soon as they turn on their phone. Here’s the list of story types that can be shared via Cover Feed at the moment:

    Photos stories

  • Updating your profile photo
  • Updating your cover photo
  • Open graph stories with user generated photos
  • Liking a photo
  • Tagging someone on a photo
  • Commenting on a photo of someone
  • Sharing a Photo
  • Non-photo stories

  • Updating your status
  • Place check-in with a message
  • Sharing urls by clicking the “share” button on another story
  • Posting a url from your timeline
  • Page posts

  • Updates and photos from Page posts
  • Notifications are already a great engagement tool, but Facebook reckons that Home will make notifications even more engaging by making them “bigger” and “bolder.” The larger size will also make it easier for users to interact with notifications, thereby increasing your chances of having a user engage with your content.

    Facebook Messenger ensured that a user would leave your app if they got a message from a friend in the middle of playing a game. Home’s Chat Heads makes it so that messages appear on screen, even while using you app, and users can respond without ever having to close your app.

    Finally, Facebook says that its app launcher will make it easier for people to get to your apps more quickly. The launcher is fully customizable so a good app is likely to always be at the forefront of any launcher.

    Facebook will be updating Home every month so you can expect more developer updates as Facebook builds out Home into a more sophisticated product. I wouldn’t be surprised if we were to also a get few major Android SDK updates this year to address how apps can better take advantage of Home.

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