Facebook Messenger Group Video Calling Support Launched for Android, iOS

Facebook has officially launched group video calling for Messenger on Android, iOS and desktop worldwide. Facebook Messenger users will be able to see up to six people at a time but up to 50 people can join in the conversation via voice or camera.

According to the post - "More and more people use messaging in groups for lots of different reasons like keeping everyone up to date, planning a family vacation or to share a few jokes. With 245 million people making video calls in Messenger every month, now we’re bringing everyone on Messenger the ability to turn group chats into face-to-face conversations no matter where you are – whether you’re down the street or halfway across the world. Chatting face-to-face live as a group is perfect for those spontaneous moments when text just isn’t enough… or when you have a major case of FOMO. It’s the best way to share the news you just got a job (or into college), have your kids wish grandma a happy birthday, tell a funny story to the people you love or just see your friends live while wearing fun 3D masks (iOS only for now – Android coming soon) to an everyday conversation".

To get started, you’ll need the latest version of Messenger. All you have to do is jump into an existing group conversation, or create a new one. Then tap on the video icon on the upper right of the screen to enter the video chat and everyone in the group will be notified. Each person can join when they are ready with just one tap. For an extra nudge, you can also directly ring just a few people or the whole group.

Facebook Messenger Launched for Windows 10 Mobile

Facebook Messenger

Soon after launching its app for Windows 10 desktop, Facebook has launched Messenger app for Windows 10 mobile. The Facebook Messenger app is now available on the Windows Store for free.

Facebook Messenger for Windows 10 mobiles is more or less the same same as that in Android and iOS. The app lets you send stickers, GIFs, change theme color, customize your username, group conversations and so on. It even comes with Windows features like live tiles. The app works on Windows Phone 8, Windows Phone 8.1, Windows 10, and Windows 10 Mobile.

Download the app from here.

Facebook Rolling Out New Like Reactions

Facebook has rolled out "Reactions" - an extension of the "Like" button - worldwide on Wednesday, to allow users to express emotions such as sadness, anger and love. Reactions includes six emoticons depicting various responses such as love, laughter, happiness, smile, shock, sadness and anger. In order to add a reaction, you will have to hold down the Like button on mobile or hover over the Like button on desktop to see the reaction image options, then tap either Like, Love, Haha, Wow, Sad or Angry. In its News Feed algorithm, Facebook will count each reaction in the same way it counts likes.

Chris Cox, Chief product officer says, "Today we’re launching a pilot test of Reactions — a more expressive Like button. As you can see, it’s not a “dislike” button, though we hope it addresses the spirit of this request more broadly. We studied which comments and reactions are most commonly and universally expressed across Facebook, then worked to design an experience around them that was elegant and fun. Starting today Ireland and Spain can start loving, wow-ing, or expressing sympathy to posts on Facebook by hovering or long-pressing the Like button wherever they see it. We’ll use the feedback from this to improve the feature and hope to roll it out to everyone soon."

Sammi Krug, Product Manager, Facebook said in a company blog post, "We’ve been listening to people and know that there should be more ways to easily and quickly express how something you see in News Feed makes you feel. That’s why today we are launching Reactions, an extension of the Like button, to give you more ways to share your reaction to a post in a quick and easy way. We understand that this is a big change, and want to be thoughtful about rolling this out."

Today we’re launching a pilot test of Reactions — a more expressive Like button. As you can see, it’s not a “dislike” button, though we hope it addresses the spirit of this request more broadly. We studied which comments and reactions are most commonly and universally expressed across Facebook, then worked to design an experience around them that was elegant and fun. Starting today Ireland and Spain can start loving, wow-ing, or expressing sympathy to posts on Facebook by hovering or long-pressing the Like button wherever they see it. We’ll use the feedback from this to improve the feature and hope to roll it out to everyone soon.
Posted by Chris Cox on Thursday, October 8, 2015

Facebook Shuts Down Free Basics in India

Soon after Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) supported Net Neutrality and banned differential pricing, Facebook has pulled shut down Free Basics in India. Differential pricing means charging customers different prices for access to different websites and services.

“Free Basics is no longer available to people in India,” a Facebook spokesperson said in an emailed statement to TOI. Reliance Communications had partnered with Facebook for Free Basics (then Internet.Org) to provide the service in India, but it was suspended by the TRAI as it did not follow the principles of Net Neutrality.

Facebook had previously expressed it's disappointment with the regulation mandated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, which dealt a huge setback to the social networking giant's efforts to promote it's Free Basics platform in India. Facebook says Free Basics is designed to connect the unconnected billions but critics say it creates a walled garden of only selected websites or apps, thus violating the concept of net neutrality. 

TRAI Supports Net Neutrality, Says No To Facebook's Free Basics

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Monday ruled against differential pricing for Internet services, in a major setback to Facebook Inc’s plan to roll out free Internet to the masses in Asia’s third-largest economy. It ruled that no service provider shall offer or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services offered based on content.

The TRAI added that a service provider may reduce tariff for providing emergency services or at times of any grave emergency. It remarked the same has to be reported to authority within seven working days. The TRAI says it will order service providers to withdraw such tariff and will penalise the service provider with Rs 50,000 for each day of contravention.

For those uninitiated, it began with TRAI floating a consultation paper seeking views if differential pricing should be allowed, amidst the whole net neutrality debate. The regulator wanted to know what steps should be taken to ensure principles of non-discrimination, affordable Internet access, competition and so on if differential pricing is allowed. After some media coverage connecting differential pricing to net neutrality, Trai quickly put out a statement saying the paper issued is not on net neutrality, but on a specific matter about differential pricing.

However, there is no denying that both are co-related. Now, differential pricing means, different prices for different content aka apps, which violates net neutrality. So, differential pricing and net neutrality go hand-in-hand. And, we can say the same about Free Basics or any other similar platform. Differential pricing won’t just change the way we’ve always used Internet, but blatantly unfair and discriminating.The paper floated by TRAI received 24 lakh responses.

Points to be noted :

• No service provider can offer or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services on the basis of content.
• No service provider shall enter into any arrangement, agreement or contract, by whatever name called, with any person, natural or legal, that the effect of discriminatory tariffs for data services being offered or charged by the service provider for the purpose of evading the prohibition in this regulation.
• Reduced tariff for accessing or providing emergency services, or at times of public emergency has been permitted.
• Financial disincentives for contravention of the regulation have also been specified
• TRAI may review these regulations after a period of two years.

Complete TRAI report can be read here.

Twitter Tipped to Get Facebook-Like Algorithmic Timeline Soon

In an attempt to bring tweets to more people across the globe, micro blogging site Twitter is planning to introduce an algorithmic timeline like Facebook as soon as next week, a media report said.

The timeline will reorder tweets based on what Twitter's algorithm thinks people most want to see, BuzzFeed reported on Saturday.

"Before today, you could see individual Tweets but it was hard to discover stories and conversations happening on Twitter without signing in. Now, you can check out a news story as it unfolds," Paul Lambert, product manager of Twitter, wrote on the micro blogging website's blog on February 2.

The home timeline will be rolled out to people across 23 countries, including India, who visit the twitter.com homepage on their mobile devices.

However, it is unclear whether Twitter will force users to use the algorithmic feed, or it will merely be an option.

Twitter is also planning to expand a refreshed twitter.com homepage, which is already available in the US and Japan, to 23 other countries.

The micro blogging site has been looking for ways to elevate popular content for quite some time.

In November, the company killed off the traditional term favourites and replaced it with likes. An algorithmic feed would be, to date, the boldest change so far under Jack Dorsey, who took the reins of Twitter as permanent CEO in October last year.

source

Facebook Sharing Coming to WhatsApp?

Facebook purchased WhatsApp for $19 Billion in year 2014. It has not changed much in its features, apart Voice Calling Features between Whats App users. It seems that Facebook and Whats App have been acting as two different bodies.

A new leak about the upcoming WhatsApp build reveals that WhatsApp will now allow cross communication between Facebook and WhatsApp accounts. When messing with root commands, version 4.12.413 of WhatsApp shows the option of linking a WhatsApp account with a Facebook account to “improve Facebook experiences”.

Google+ user Javier Santos has found out some new options residing in WhatsApp’s latest beta build, v4.12.413. These options indicate that WhatsApp is preparing to start sharing its data with Facebook, in order to “improve Facebook experiences”. This change will come along with a new set of Terms of Service that users will have to agree to.

Last month, some leaked images of WhatsApp went viral which showed WhatsApp testing video calling support. WhatsApp for iOS version 2.12.16.2 is being tested internally. So far, there has been no word on video call support officially arriving to WhatsApp but speculation has it the feature may be rolled out early next year.

Just a week after WhatsApp proclaimed that it is not charging $1 as annual fee, and it further said that they are seeking to see new information that points to a convenient relationship between messaging service “WhatsApp” and its parental company, Facebook.

WhatsApp is definitely up to something big. Lets us all wait for the change.

Should I support Facebook's Free Basics in India?

Do you have any idea why 'Internet.org' was renamed to 'Free Basics' just for India?

About 1 year ago, when Internet.org was launched in India, many citizens protested and stopped it as it was against the net neutrality. Facebook was shocked by this response. So, the marketing department of Facebook renamed it to 'FREE BASICS' and relaunched as they thought Indians will never say 'no' to anything which is given for free.

Now, Facebook is aggressively marketing to get it accepted by India's Telecom regulator.  They are publishing full page newspaper ads, roadside banners and online ads. They stooped so low from their standards and started sending constant notifications to all their Indian Users to click a button which will send a mail to TRAI saying that you support 'Free basics'. They even 'accidentally' sent these notification to foreign users.

They make their ads look like they are doing a favour for India through 'Free basics' and our evil government is stopping their good efforts. And, if you do not accept their nagging notifications, then they make it look like you are a bad person who doe'n't support 'digital equality' showing the list of your friends who support it.

'Digital equality'- another term coined by Facebook for their ads. Does that word look suspiciously similar to 'Net neutrality'? Aye?

What is 'Free basics'/'Internet dot org' according to Facebook?

Free Basics by Facebook provides free access to basic internet services to a billion people all over the world.

Free Basics makes the internet accessible to more people by providing them access to a range of free basic services like news, maternal health, travel, local jobs, sports, communication, and local government information.

To date, we've been able to offer these services to a billion people across Asia, Africa and Latin America. By introducing people to the benefits of the internet through these services, we hope to bring more people online and help improve their lives.

That really really makes it look so world challengingly good, right? Who doesn't want free unlimited internet?

You can imagine that a poor kid in a Chhatisgarh village in central India should be able to see Khan Academy videos, her Dad should be able to look up agricultural spot prices on Google or a commodity exchange and perhaps her Mom could look for a better-paying job at a top job board. But natch, none of these are part of the so-called "Internet/Free Basics" that Facebook offers the poor. Videos in fact, are not available at all, presumably to conserve bandwidth so it can be retained for more important things like villagers sending each other Candy Crush requests.

There is no Google, there is no LinkedIn, there's no Alibaba, there's no Amazon, there's no Flipkart, there's no eBay. No place these folks can buy, or sell or trade. There's no Kiva or other bottom-of-pyramid money service. No loans they can receive. No government sites, no banks. No Coursera or EdX or Khan Academy - so it's not about education either. Forget about entertainment - there's absolutely none of that. And no Quora, of course. You name any possible site of importance to someone who needs information and opportunities, and it's not there. But, hey, I guess then you can always poke folks in the next village! (source)

What is 'free basics'  according to rest of us?

Free basics give free internet access to Facebook and few other internet services approved by Facebook.

The internet market growth is getting saturated in the western world as most people are already using internet. India and other Asian countries have a large untapped population who are yet to use internet. Facebook wants to acquire these users by any means possible. One easy way to make Facebook popular among these users is to give it for free.

Do you know how drug-agents get college students addicted to their drugs? They first give it for completely free. Then once the students get addicted to it, they start charging them heftily.

Free basics is launched for Facebook's best interests. Otherwise why are they so pushy about this and investing millions for the ad campaign itself, when people are clearly protesting against it? Reliance - the official network partner of Free basics advertises it as 'Free Facebook' on newspapers (source)

What are 'basics'?

Facebook or Whatsapp wasn't a basic internet service 10 years ago. If some other company X had offered their service free from past 15 years then facebook/whatsapp wouldn't have even existed.

The things which may look basic now may not be basic in next 10 years. By giving Facebook control of which apps to give for free, we are creating a monopoly. New startups won't be able to compete as everyone will use the Facebook's free alternative.

For example:- If free basics was launched in 2010, then Whatsapp would never have been so popular as 'Facebook Messenger' would have been free, while you would have to pay data charges to use 'Whatsapp' or any other service. This creates a monopolistic environment where only Facebook will thrive.

What is Net neutrality?

Net Neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet the same, not discriminating or charging differentially by user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or mode of communication.

It is one of the fundamental principle due to which Internet exists in the form we see today.

"What net neutrality activists won't tell you?" - Seriously? This is the title they used in their newspaper ads.

The guys behind Save The Internet!  have given a befitting reply.

You can read the reply here:- 

• There are other successful models (this, this, this) for providing free Internet access to people, without giving a competitive advantage to Facebook. Free Basics is the worst of our options.
• Facebook doesn’t pay for Free Basics, telecom operators do. Where do they make money from? From users who pay. By encouraging people to choose Free Basics, Facebook reduces the propensity to bring down data costs for paid Internet access.
• Free Basics isn’t about bringing people online. It’s about keeping Facebook and its partners free, while everything else remains paid. Users who pay for Internet access can still access Free Basics for free, giving Facebook and its partners an advantage. Free Basics is a violation of Net Neutrality
• Internet access is growing rapidly in India. We’ve added 100 million users in 2015. Almost all the connections added in India in the last 1 year are NOT because of Free Basics.
• Free Basics is not an open platform. Facebook defines the technical guidelines for Free Basics, and reserves the right to change them. They reserve the right to reject applicants, who are forced to comply with Facebook’s terms. In contrast they support ‘permissionless innovation’ in the US.
• The only source of info on Facebook’s Free Basics is Facebook, and it misleads people. Facebook was criticised in Brazil for misleading advertising (source). Their communication in India is misleading. People find the “Free” part of Free Basics advertising from Facebook (or FreeNet free Internet) from Reliance misleading (source).
• Facebook gets access to all the usage data and usage patterns of all the sites on Free Basics. No website which wants to compete with Facebook will partner with them because it will have to give them user data. Facebook gives data to the NSA (source) and this is a security issue for India.
• Research has shown that people prefer to use the open web for a shorter duration over a limited set of sites for a longer duration. (source)
• Facebook says that Free Basics doesn’t have ads, but does not say that it will never have ads on Free Basics.
• Facebook has shown people as saying that they support Free Basics when they haven’t. They may claim 3.2 million in support, but how many of those mails are legitimate?

Facebook shares 10 key facts about Free Basics. Here's what's wrong with all 10 of them

What can Facebook actually do without violating net neutrality?

• Facebook can give all Indian users free full access to internet up to certain data limit every month.(For example: 100MB internet free for everyone every month without any restrictions. Facebook can pay for that as part of their philanthropic effort.)
• Free internet at low speeds up to certain data limit
• Ad supported free internet, but with no restrictions on which site/app you can visit and which you can't.
• Give subsidized data coupons like Rs10 for first 200MB of the month.
• Lay the infrastructure(cables, routers etc) to connect villages/rural towns.
• Give free unrestricted internet to poor people in selected regions.
• They can create something like 'GoogleWebLight For Slow Internet' which will reduce the data size of all websites and provide it for free.
• Mozilla in partnership with Grameenphone in Bangladesh allows users to receive 20 MB of data usage for free each day, in exchange for viewing an advertisement.
• Aircel is going to give free unrestricted internet at the speed of 64kbps across the country.

What can you do to stop 'Free basics'?

You can go to Save The Internet! and sent an email to TRAI saying you are against this. TRAI have already put a ban on 'free basics' till 31st Dec and is asking user's input.

You can spread this information and ask your friends to also do the same.

They have made it very difficult to write convincing articles against it, as the writer would end up looking like a jerk/elitist if they say "I am against free basics for the poor". This is why it is important for the people who know the truth to help others understand it. Is it possible to stand against a multi million dollar advertising campaign containing the word 'free' by a company which already has direct access to most internet users?

Microsoft, Paytm and Truecaller have strongly opposed 'Free basics '-(Source)

Mahesh Murthy (co-founder Seedfund) opposes 'Free basics' in his LinkedIn article.

Tim Berners-Lee (Inventor of the World Wide Web) opposes 'Free basics' (Source)

PS : I don't own this post. I was going through Quora, I came across this post and thought its worth sharing. For the original post please click here.

Paris Attacks: Facebook Sets Up Safety Check

Facebook launched a check-in feature to let people know that friends in Paris were safe after a series of bombings and shootings in the French capital killed at least 120 people on Friday.

The "Paris Terror Attacks" safety check let people signal whether they were out of harm's way, then notified all those they know at the leading social network.

"Quickly find and connect with friends in the area," a message at the Facebook Safety Check page read. "Mark them safe if you know they're OK."

The feature also allowed people to check which friends listed as being in Paris had not yet checked in as safe.

"We are shocked and saddened by the events unfolding in Paris," a Facebook spokesman told AFP.

"Communication is critical in these moments both for people there and for their friends and families anxious for news."

The death toll in the "unprecedented" series of attacks across Paris climbed through the night.

Police said around 100 people were killed at the Bataclan music venue in eastern Paris alone, where one witness said an attacker yelled "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest).

source

How To Stop Videos Playing Automatically on Facebook News Feed

Facebook recently enabled the auto video playing feature and I find this auto Video playing in too annoying. The video simply starts playing while you are scrolling your news feed. Unless you have fast internet or you love watching lots and lots of videos, this feature is just a waste of your data.

So, if you find this feature annoying you can change some settings and stop this auto play feature in your account. This feature is available for both mobile and desktop users. Here are some steps which you need to follow to change the settings.

If you are using Facebook in desktop

• Go to the settings page in Facebook (After you are logged in)
• Click on video (which is the last option in your settings page)
• Click on the Auto-Play Videos drop down menu to save your choice

Facebook Desktop

If you are using Facebook in Android Smartphones or Tablets

• Open Facebook App and tap the three horizontal line icon next to notification 
• Now scroll down and tap App settings
• Now tap Video play automatically
• Now select your choice and save it

Facebook Android

If you are using Facebook in iPhone or iPad

• Open Facebook App and tap the three horizontal line
• Now scroll down and tap App settings
• Now tap Video Auto-play
• Now select your choice and save it

Facebook iPhone

Changing Facebook Profile Pic To Support Digital India, Not To Worry

In my previous post I had posted "Support Digital India and Not Facebook's Version of Digital India". The post said that Facebook is actually counting each Profile Picture change to as your support for its on “Internet.org” in India. So, here you are indirectly killing Net Neutrality, supporting and promoting Internet.org by Facebook.

Soon after this went viral over the internet, The Huffington Post says it was the same as like the gay pride tint that went viral when the US legalized gay marriage. This was done the same way to support Digital India.

This is what the post says, "It should really worry Facebook from a trust point of view that the idea that it was hoodwinking people into pledging support for Internet.org spread like wild fire and nobody paused to question that a global behemoth might not do such a blatant sleight of hand especially when a head of government was involved. Besides, it was rather clear from the HTML code that the part that mentioned 'Internetorg' was little more than a descriptor for the image file. Responding to a query, a Facebook spokesperson told HuffPost India that there was no connection between the tricolour DP and Internet.org. "There is absolutely no connection between updating your profile picture for digital India and Internet.org. An engineer mistakenly used the words "Internet.org profile picture" as a shorthand name he chose for part of the code. But this product in no way connects to or registers support for Internet.org. We are changing the code today to eliminate any confusion."

So, now without worrying you can support for Digital India by changing your profile picture as it will not count as a yes vote for Internet.org.

source

Support Digital India and Not Facebook's Version of Digital India

Soon after Mark Zukerberg changed his profile picture to support Digital India, Lakhs and Lakhs of people supported that and changed their profile picture too. Everyone thought that they were supporting Digital India but here the bitter truth behind it. Facebook is actually counting each Profile Picture change to as your support for its on “Internet.org” in India. So, here you are indirectly killing Net Neutrality, supporting and promoting Internet.org by Facebook.

This is how changing the picture makes you support internet.org

For every profile picture that is changed, a vote goes in support of internet.org. Yes, it automatically means you've voted against net neutrality. So, if you think that by changing your profile picture you are supporting the cause of a digitalized India, don’t. You are unconsciously helping Facebook kill net neutrality. 

http://t.co/k1hdjMgQqG DP- This is what shows up when you visit page I support Digital India https://t.co/RZrRgs3JCI pic.twitter.com/GxmrZnvVCb

— Reddit India (@redditindia) September 28, 2015

source

Facebook Messenger No Longer Requires a Facebook Account

Now you don't need Facebook account to use Messenger. You just need your phone number and you can login to Messenger. Some months it was the messenger.com now its the phone number. So, now you can say that the messenger is a standalone app.

According to the blog post, "If you’re in Canada, the United States, Peru or Venezuela, we are starting to roll out a new way for you to sign up for Messenger – without a Facebook account".

Now the login screen of the app shows "Not on Facebook?". If you choose that option, users can enter their name, phone number, and a photo to create a Messenger account. 

With this update, more people can enjoy all the features that are available on Messenger – including photos, videos, group chats, voice and video calling, stickers and more. All you need is a phone number.

source

Facebook Users Donate $10 million for Nepal earthquake

 Social networking website Facebook has raised funds over $10 million within two days to support earthquake-torn Nepal.

The Himalayan nation was rattled by a powerful earthquake measuring 7.9 on Richter Scale on April 25 which left over 6,000 dead and injured more than 10,000.

"We gave people the option on Facebook to support local relief efforts. In two days, more than half a million people donated and raised more than $10 million to support the International Media Corps relief effort," a status posted by Facebook founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg said.

Click here to donate

"Facebook will donate an additional $2 million to local recovery efforts to help those in affected areas."

The popular social media platform had also activated a safety feature where more than seven million people in Nepal have been marked as safe.

The Facebook CEO has also stated that it is inspiring to see communities coming together to help people in their time of need.

Source

Facebook Rolls Out ‘Donate’ Button for Nepal Earthquake

After launching its Safety Check update for people who suffered in the Nepal earthquake, Facebook has now rolled out the Donate button for relief work in Nepal.

The button is visible right on top when you log into Facebook. You can either click on donate or simply go to learn more to get information about the organisation to which Facebook plans to donate.

The learn more page shows that Facebook will match your donation (upto $2 million) to the Nepal earthquake relief work and it will be given to the International Medical Corps, which is a global organisation.

The options to donate are Rs 500, Rs 1000, Rs 2500 and Rs 5000. You can choose to donate a higher amount as well for Nepal earthquake relief.

According to Facebook, “International Medical Corps’ emergency response teams are operating mobile medical units to deliver critically needed medical care and medicines to the regions hardest-hit by the earthquake.” The team is giving out “hygiene kits, water purification tablets and other supplies to keep families healthy.”

So far over 4310 people have died in the earthquake in Nepal with over 8000 people being injured. The death toll in Nepal is likely to rise as many remote villages are still believed to be trapped under the rubble.

Facebook had also launched the ‘Safety Check’ feature which tracks people (based on profile information or any other check-in updates) in an area that has been struck by natural disasters. Users in the area will be prompted by Facebook to update their status as safe and should do so to let their friends knows of the same.

Google also activated its ‘Person Finder’ tool to help track missing persons in Nepal. You can access the tool here.

Person Finder is a free tool that helps friends and family members search for missing persons after a calamity. People can request and provide information about missing persons on the site. Search is also available through SMS in India and the US. Users just have to text “search ” to +91-9773300000 in India or +1-650-800-3978 in the US.

Source

Facebook Launched Standalone Messenger for Web, Messenger.com

Facebook launched a standalone Web version of its Messenger, with the launch of the Messenger.com website. Users can login to messenger.com using Facebook account and all the existing chats will appear. Users can also make audio and video calls from the top right menu bar. The Web version is currently available in English only. 

With the new Messenger Web interface, users now have a dedicated Web page to chat with their Facebook friends just like on Facebook.com. Similar to its move on the mobile front, the company has effectively separated Facebook Messenger from Facebook, but speaking with Re/code, a Facebook spokesperson has confirmed there are no plans to remove access to messaging services from its core Facebook.com Web service as of now.

A gear button on the upper left corner allows you to make setting adjustments, such as sound and desktop notifications. You also get the option to manage your Blocked list, but this link takes you back to the Facebook homepage.

Facebook Testing WhatsApp Integration in Android App

WhatsApp, which last said it had 700 million monthly active users, was acquired by Facebook for over $20 billion in February last year. According to Geektime, Facebook is testing WhatsApp integration for its Android app. 

There is a 'Send' button with the familiar WhatsApp icon as a part of the status actions buttons that appear under each status update. The integration will allow users to send photos,videos and other content from Facebook to WhatsApp with the use of this “Send” button. This feature was seen by some users using Facebook Android app version 31.0.0.7.13. 

According to reports, teams are already working on a deeper integration that will include the ability to send messages between Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

Facebook Unveils 'On This Day' : A New Way to Look Back at Photos and Memories on Facebook

Facebook Unveils 'On This Day'

Facebook today unveiled a new feature that lets users look back at photos and posts from the current calendar date in past years. "On This Day" feature lets you look back at things you have shared and posts you’ve been tagged in on Facebook.

According to the official blog, "On This Day shows content from this date in the past. For example, you might see past status updates, photos, posts from friends and other things you’ve shared or been tagged in – from one year ago, two years ago, and so on. Only you will see this content unless you decide to share it with your friends".

Facebook's new On This Day feature will be accessible on both desktop and mobile in the bookmarks menu, search, News Feed stories, and also on a dedicated page - https://www.facebook.com/onthisday.

Once on the page, you can choose to subscribe to notifications so you’ll be alerted when you have memories to look back on. You can also edit and delete old posts, or decide to share your memories with friends.

Now Choose Who Will Manage Your Facebook Account After You Die

Facebook on Thursday added a new feature that allows users to assign a specific person who will be able to access their account after they die.

The new feature is called Legacy Contact. You can view this new feature under security setting menu in Facebook. You will be able to select a specific person whom you think can control you account after you die. Alternatively, users can opt to have their account deleted after they pass away.

Previously, Facebook already had memorialization system where people can let Facebook know a user has passed away. The memorialized accounts will not be seen in friend suggestions, ads or other "public" places on Facebook.

The legacy account will be able to

• Write a post to display at the top of the memorialized Timeline (for example, to announce a memorial service or share a special message)
• Respond to new friend requests from family members and friends who were not yet connected on Facebook
• Update the profile picture and cover photo

Now the Memorialized account will have a "remembering" label before the display name to let users know that the user has passed away. 

As of now the legacy contact is available to users in US and it will expand globally.

Facebook Lite App for low end Android devices

Facebook Lite App

Facebook has come up with Facebook Lite App for low end Android devices. It is designed specially for users with poor-quality mobile Internet connections in emerging markets.

A spokesman told AFP in an email that the "Facebook Lite" Android app is designed "for people on 2G (second-generation) connections or in areas of limited Internet accessibility."

The size of the app is less than 1MB ( around 252KB), the app is currently available in just eight countries in Africa and Asia: Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. It also works on devices running Android 2.2.

Download Facebook Lite from here.