Facebook to overhaul iOS app for better speed, sources say
updated 03:20 pm EDT, Wed June 27, 2012
Network ditches HTML5 for Objective-C
Facebook is overhauling its iOS app to concentrate on speed, according to two anonymous engineers from the company contacted by the New York Times. Many users have complained that the current app is slow and crash-prone. The new version will reportedly launch as soon as next month, or at least this summer, and fix underlying speed issues by switching almost entirely to Objective-C code.
Many of the problems with the existing software are said to be linked to its dependency on HTML5 code sitting inside an Objective-C shell. A number of the app's components are essentially webpages, forcing it to fetch too much content from the web and stretch out the time some operations take. The revised code should have most of its functionality built in, limiting the amount of data that has to be pulled from the Internet.
The Times claims to have seen the new app running, and calls it "blazing fast." Its interface is allegedly unchanged, given the focus on speed.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Feb 2004
Thank god
funny how using fb in safari on iPhone is 5x faster as the app. this is very much needed.