Facebook launches promised overhaul of iOS app
updated 02:19 pm EDT, Thu August 23, 2012
Speeds up launch times, interface tasks
Facebook has released a long-awaited overhaul of its iOS app, bringing the title up to v5.0. The social network says that the app should now launch twice as fast, and load the News Feed and notifications right away. Speed improvements extend to scrolling through the News Feed, which should now be smoother, and viewing photos, which should open instantly when tapped. Swiping downward closes them. A banner at the top of the interface meanwhile indicates when new stories are available, eliminating the need to use pull-to-refresh.
iOS support has been a recurring complaint with Facebook. Previous versions of the iOS app were slow, owing in part to heavy use of web code. Until October last year the software didn't even have a native iPad interface, despite Facebook's prominence at the App Store and intense public demand.
