After months of waiting, Facebook finally released its new native Android app to the huddled masses that were waiting for salvation from the painfully slow hybrid app of years past. Soon after, Facebook delivered an update that is sure to raise the spirits of developers.
Facebook announced that the Android SDK is now out of beta and available to everyone. All of the features that 80,000 developers came to love during the beta period are still there, but Facebook has added a number of new features to the full release that will make integrating Facebook into mobile apps even easier.
The big addition in the latest SDK is Native Login. Facebook says the feature will help developers “quickly build common features and give Facebook users a consistent experience.” Here’s all the features including the new UI controls:
Alongside the above features, the new SDK also includes several tools for easier session management, better API support and mobile install measurement. For session management, you’ll want to check out these tools that manage login states automatically. As for the API, developers can now send batch API calls to speed up performance. Finally, the new SDK lets developers measure clicks and installs for mobile app install ads.
Developers should note that Facebook SDK 3.0 for Android is backwards compatible with any apps built on SDK 2.0 or higher. With that being said, Facebook says that all developers should move their apps to the latest version of the SDK by June 13, 2013. At that time, the social network will be ending support for SDK 2.0.
Before you get started with integrating the SDK into your app, you’ll want to check out the documentation to see what’s new. After that, you can download the new SDK here.