41–50 of 124 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In this case it's not intents, it's that the homescreen is a replaceable app. This is the most thoroughly rethought homescreen replacement I've seen.
I'm pretty sure that the homescreen is actually launched via an intent, though. At least, if you have multiple homescreens installed it prompts you which one to launch through the same interface that intents use. (Until you set a default.)
Still, does Facebook having more integration into every aspect of our digital experience really improve our quality of life? I feel like we are already well into an uncanny valley of Facebook saturation.
Play is the biggest leverage Google has against OEMs, and FB has to consider that Google could drop any of these apps at a moment's notice (make up a reason).
Here, FB now has a pliant OEM (HTC) and the beginnings of an OEM integration program (it was mentioned in the talk).
How hard would it be for FB to build an app store, as a contingency if nothing else?
My initial thoughts (without having a ton of time to really absorb this yet) is that Apple's closed operating system may have just become a liability. The open 'intent' model of Android is really at the core of making something like this possible. In turn though does this also allow Facebook to take over "too many" aspects of Android and cut into Google's revenue streams as well? All things I'm still pondering. As an…
[edit] Remember browser toolbars? Now that Facebook is doing this, I expect this is just the beginning.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you don't like what your friends post to Facebook then you should reconsider if you want to be friends with them, or if you should begin using the tools FB already provides to control the content in your feed.
> If you don't like what your friends post to Facebook then you should reconsider if you want to be friends with them That seems like an over-reaction. My friends posting stupid memes on facebook has little bearing to my friendship to them.
I do think replacing the launcher was a smart idea, but I'm just not sure if that kind of integration is useful in FB's case. Maybe I'm a minority, but I just don't route my life through FB and do not want to, at all. This only seems useful to people who exclusively use their phone for FB. Why would I want a layer of FB between me and the home screen where all my other apps live? The UI did look pretty slick, though…
My suspicion is that they'll want everything they can get their hands on (location at a minimum). Eventually, they're going to want to replace your phonebook, etc.
The sad thing is, people will just let them.
Apps are a way to gauge and guide intent. So if I want to send an email, I open an email app. If I want to check my schedule, I open the calendar app. These are established and agreed upon concepts and apps are just representations of those concepts. With Home, Facebook is saying that every time you turn on your phone "you probably want to see what your friends are up to." This assumes that we're all super social and are genuinely interested in people in our Facebook-lives. I think many people use Facebook out of a sense of obligation to be part of that scene (kind of like LinkedIn). But there probably are a lot of people who instinctively hit that Facebook app as soon as they turn on their phone and for them this will be great. I don't think it will drive more usage from that first group, though (and I think that should be Facebook's primary goal).
I'm really sad about the still-all-too-walled-garden: The ideas of active information at a glance is cool, but honestly, for it to be really useful for me, I don't want just FB, and definitely not just photos. I'd be happier with some Flipboard-style article previews, and I'd like some of that information to come from Twitter, Reddit/HN, or even ( gasp ) Google+. Similarly chatheads are pretty cool, but with my curre…