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Facebook is the quintessential social network, but you may not always feel like being social every time you log in to your Facebook account. Whether it's because you don't have the energy or the time to engage with friends, you do have the option to browse Facebook without anyone knowing you're online. The way to achieve this is by turning off your "Active Status," which can be done within...

Facebook has introduced a tool that lets users export notes and text-based posts to third-party services, making it easier than ever to leave the social network without saying goodbye to your content. The new "data portability types" mean people can now directly transfer their notes and posts to Google Docs, Blogger and WordPress. The updates are extensions to Facebook's existing tool that...

When it came to adding a Dark Mode option to its iOS app, Facebook was late to the game. The social network announced it was coming in June 2020, but dragged its feet for months before eventually rolling it out to mobile users in November the same year, over 400 days after Apple first introduced the feature in iOS 13. Dark Mode‌ has been available on the social network's website for a while ...

Facebook has just made a photo transfer tool globally available that lets account holders easily download all their pictures and videos from the social network to Google Photos. Previously, the majority of Facebook users wanting to download their media from the site had to do it manually. From today, however, users with a Google Photos account can automate the job, and Facebook says more...

After previously only existing as an "Easter Egg" setting, Facebook in April 2019 added a Dark Mode theme as an official display feature of its standalone Messenger app. Facebook says that Dark Mode is designed to provide less harsh brightness in situations where ambient lighting is lower while maintaining contrast and vibrancy. If you have an OLED iPhone, such as an iPhone X, iPhone XS,...

With the release of iOS 11, Apple nixed its built-in integration with Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and Vimeo, a feature that allowed iPhone and iPad users to store their third-party account information and access it within apps that needed to use those services. The equivalent feature remains in macOS High Sierra, although Apple has removed it completely from macOS 10.14 Mojave, which many...

Facebook may be developing an official Messenger desktop app for Mac, according to TechCrunch. The technology website obtained a blurry photo that allegedly shows a Facebook employee using the Messenger client on Mac, which would be easily accessible from the OS X dock as opposed to a tab in a web browser. Leaked photo of claimed Facebook Messenger for Mac app (Image: TechCrunch) Messenger...

Starting today, some Facebook users will be able to view Live Photos in their Facebook feeds using the Facebook for iOS app, reports TechCrunch. Introduced with the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus, Live Photos are motion-enabled images that capture the moments just before and after a photo is taken. Facebook plans to gradually roll out support for Live Photos, so while some Facebook app users ...

Facebook today ended its Creative Labs project, which was designed to allow its engineers to come up with unique and innovative smartphone and tablet apps. With the shuttering of Creative Labs, several of the apps that came out of the program are being shut down and removed from the App Store. Slingshot, Rooms, and Riff, all apps that were released across 2014 and 2015, are no longer available ...

Earlier today Facebook announced (via 9to5Mac) Facebook SDK for tvOS, which the company says will help developers "build immersive social experiences on that platform." The three features the SDK allows thus far are Facebook Login, Share to Facebook and Facebook Analytics for Apps. Similar to Facebook Login on iOS, tvOS' Facebook Login would allow users to easily log in to their apps without ...

Facebook today announced a new feature for its iOS app called "Music Stories" that will allow users to sample 30-second clips of songs that their friends and family post to the social network from services like Apple Music, iTunes, and Spotify. Users will be able to stream the clip directly from their feed and even follow a link to purchase or add the music directly into their Apple Music or...

Facebook's newest iOS update, out today, fixes a major battery draining bug that some Facebook users have been experiencing in recent weeks. Affected users were seeing large amounts of battery drain on their iPhones due to Facebook running in the background, something that happened even when background app refresh was toggled off in the Settings app. While the latest Facebook app release notes ...

Several months ago, Facebook announced "Instant Articles," a new platform for publishers that aimed to speed up the loading times of articles when browsing on the Facebook iOS app, but it was limited to a small number of iPhone users. As of today, Facebook's Instant Articles are rolling out to all iOS users and should be showing up in Facebook timelines starting now. With Instant Articles,...

Facebook today acknowledged its awareness of an issue raised by a few iOS users last week, who saw large amounts of battery drain on their iPhones while the social networking app ran in the background, even with background app refresh toggled off. Speaking with TechCrunch, a Facebook spokesperson confirmed the company's awareness of the bug and promised a fix would be in place "soon." MacRumors ...

Facebook today rolled out a new virtual assistant called "M" inside its Messenger app for a limited number of users in the Bay Area, reports Wired. "M" is powered by both artificial intelligence and Facebook employees, enabling Messenger users to ask questions and complete tasks such as making restaurant reservations, ordering birthday flowers or discovering the best places to go hiking in...

Facebook's News Feed has gone through a number of changes over the years, with the company attempting to streamline the best way for users to visualize the content they care most about right at the top of the social media site. Today, Facebook hopes to be one step closer to that goal, with the roll out of a new "See First" option to its iOS app that will allow users to choose up to 30 people or...

Facebook is in the early stages of planning a dedicated music streaming service, with the intention of competing against the just-released Apple Music along with other industry heavyweights like Spotify and Rdio (via Music Ally). A few reports earlier in the month tied the company to record labels with the idea of creating an ad-supported native video service, but according to sources...

Facebook yesterday announced "Instant Articles," a new iOS-based platform designed to speed up the loading times of articles when browsing on the company's iPhone app. Instant Articles offers publishers a new tool to host their stories on Facebook servers, negating the need to wait for a separate web app to load the content and in turn loading linked articles up to ten times faster than...

After promising to deliver voice calling capabilities back in 2014, WhatsApp has finally delivered, introducing voice over IP features in its latest update. With the new version of the app, it's possible for WhatsApp users to call friends and family directly within the app using a Wi-Fi or cellular connection at no cost. The introduction of voice calling to the Facebook-owned WhatsApp app puts ...

Facebook today launched a new app called Riff, which is designed to let people create collaborative videos with their friends by linking multiple videos surrounding a single topic. After downloading the app, anyone can begin a Riff video by shooting a clip and giving it a topic. From there, your friends will get a notification to watch what's been uploaded already and an invite to add their...

At today's F8 Facebook Developer Conference, Facebook debuted its new Messenger Platform, a major update to the Messenger service that allows users to send content like GIFs, photos, videos, and more from third-party apps within the Facebook Messenger app for iOS. Beginning today, iOS app developers can build Facebook Messenger support into their apps, making them directly accessible within...

Facebook today announced a new feature for its Facebook Messenger app for iOS -- money transfers. It's now possible for Facebook Messenger users to send and receive money right within the app, letting Facebook compete with other money sending services like Venmo and Paypal. The new money sending feature is free to use. Sending a friend a payment can be done by tapping the "$" icon located on...

Facebook for iOS is gaining a major new feature today, which is designed to provide Foursquare-style recommendations on the places that users visit. Called Place Tips, the tool will offer up posts and photos that a user's friends have shared at the same location that's being visited. For example, when visiting a restaurant, if a Facebook friend has previously been to the same spot, Place Tips...

Facebook today updated its Paper app to version 1.2.5, adding several improvements to the app's photo management capabilities. It's now possible for users to access their "Favorited" photos album on iOS for faster sharing of preferred photos, and the Camera Roll in the app organizes photos by date. The "Favorites" album was introduced with the iOS 8 Photos app revamp and houses all of the...

Facebook today began testing a new feature on its Messenger service, automatically transcribing voice messages sent through the service directly into text. Announced by the Facebook's VP of Messaging David Marcus on his Facebook page, the update is meant to be more helpful for people who enjoy sending and receiving voice messages but find themselves in situations such as a meeting where audio...

Facebook today plans to launch a new app for iOS and Android, simply titled "Work", that will allow businesses to build their own Facebook-like social networks to facilitate interaction amongst employees. The service, which will also available on the main Facebook website, has been beta tested in "a very small set" of businesses around the world, Lars Rasmussen, the engineering director at...