Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Facebook Announces “Home”, A Homescreen Replacement For Standard Android

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 124 posts

Re: Facebook Announces “Home”, A Homescreen Replacement For Standard Android

#101

Post by jimktrains2 »

slouch wrote: post #88
pifflesnort wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd call the inability for Facebook to usurp control over Apple's vertically integrated platform to be a market advantage, not a liability, as long as too many users don't start clamoring for a facebook-iphone. [edit] Remember browser toolbars? Now that Facebook is doing this, I expect this is just the beginning.

I don't think a launcher app like Facebook home can be associated with the Android home button automatically when it is installed, so the browser toolbar comparison isn't perfect.

I don't think I understand. You can install different home apps, and you can select which one will launch when you hit the home button. I do this, often.

Re: Facebook Announces “Home”, A Homescreen Replacement For Standard Android

#102

Post by gknoy »

wvenable wrote: post #60
MatthewPhillips wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess you're right, but there's nothing about intents that assumes the homescreen would be replaceable. That the homescreen is launched via intents must have been a conscious design decision, right?

It was definitely a conscious design decision. It's basically the intent of what happens when you press the Home button. The UI for the end-user is identical as for every other intent (and managed the same way in the settings). If you install a new application that handles the Home intent, the next time you press the Home button you get the usual "What app do you want to use to handle this" dialog with the "Just once…

More importantly, if I've selected "Always", how do I change it back to the old way later? Are intents something I can access and change in the normal system settings?

Re: Facebook Announces “Home”, A Homescreen Replacement For Standard Android

#103

Post by bsbechtel »

Facebook has done a great job in recent years developing ways for individuals to absorb more content created by their friends. However, they don't seem to be doing much to encourage people to share or post engaging content....as a data point of one, I find myself sharing things on Facebook significantly less often than I did last year at this time.

Re: Facebook Announces “Home”, A Homescreen Replacement For Standard Android

#104

Post by Scriptor »

criley wrote: post #51
Scriptor wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many people use facebook as just another way to communicate with friends, either through messages, wall posts, or event invites. I don't really care if they post uninteresting stuff to their own wall. Actually, it'd be rather sad if I reevaluated my friendships just based on that.

> "Actually, it'd be rather sad if I reevaluated my friendships just based on that." This is unfair, you responded to someone who was saying "If you want a higher quality stream, then curate more aggressively using the tools available to you" And I feel like you ignored the meat of his post to make a cheap shot on the idea of "losing friends over memes". That wasn't his point, and I think you knew that. The tools he…

His words were (emphasis mine):

> you should reconsider if you want to be friends with them, OR if you should begin using the tools FB already provides

So if we get technical about it, he presents two options: Curate more aggressively or reconsider whether you want to be friends with them. Maybe he meant that tongue-in-cheek, but at least when I first read it it sounded like he said you should either use facebook's tools or rethink your actual friendship with that person.

Re: Facebook Announces “Home”, A Homescreen Replacement For Standard Android

#105

Post by RealCasually »

untog wrote: post #99
slouch wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think a launcher app like Facebook home can be associated with the Android home button automatically when it is installed, so the browser toolbar comparison isn't perfect.

I don't think a launcher app like Facebook home can be associated with the Android home button automatically Automatically, no. But it will give you a prompt that will allow you to set the home button to go to Facebook Home.

Put another way, once installed, you press the Home key, and are 2 TAPS away from having it permanently set. It is a great solution to the problem, and something sorely lacking on iOS (for things like browser and email defaults).

Re: Facebook Announces “Home”, A Homescreen Replacement For Standard Android

#106

Post by wvenable »

gknoy wrote: post #102
wvenable wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was definitely a conscious design decision. It's basically the intent of what happens when you press the Home button. The UI for the end-user is identical as for every other intent (and managed the same way in the settings). If you install a new application that handles the Home intent, the next time you press the Home button you get the usual "What app do you want to use to handle this" dialog with the "Just once…

More importantly, if I've selected "Always", how do I change it back to the old way later? Are intents something I can access and change in the normal system settings?

Yup. The system is a lot easier to work with than file associations in Windows.

Re: Facebook Announces “Home”, A Homescreen Replacement For Standard Android

#107

Post by gknoy »

nollidge wrote: post #2

Why? EDIT: seriously, why? Were people really clamoring for more Facebook in their lives?

I wouldn't mind Facebook messaging being more tightly integrated with my text messaging interface. My android phone lets me put text messages as a widget on my lock screen, for example -- but I can't do that with FB messages, which is something I use a lot more than SMS. Nearly everything else about Facebook I could care less about, but FB messaging is something that my wife and I use a LOT.

Re: Facebook Announces “Home”, A Homescreen Replacement For Standard Android

#108

Post by owenwil »

andrewmunn wrote: post #90
mik3y wrote: post #11

Setting aside the Launcher replacement, the most technically surprising aspect of this demo was the messaging app: it showed avatars and a messaging window hovering above the currently-focused app. As far as I know, this isn't possible on stock Android. You can make a non-fullscreen window, but you can't continue to interact with the layer behind it. This may be the motivation for the "set of OEM guidelines" Mark ver…

Actually chat heads works on stock Android! Not sure the exact wizardry that went into implementing it, but it's very impressive to use.

...Do you have an APK?

Re: Facebook Announces “Home”, A Homescreen Replacement For Standard Android

#109

Post by babuskov »

51Cards wrote: post #5

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…

It looks like were entering the second Apple vs PC era. Just replace "PC" with "Android", and you'll get the same:

- majority of the market uses PC/Android - Apple's product is more polished, PC/Android is more open to 3rd party developers

Re: Facebook Announces “Home”, A Homescreen Replacement For Standard Android

#110

Post by brian_cloutier »

jimktrains2 wrote: post #101
slouch wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think a launcher app like Facebook home can be associated with the Android home button automatically when it is installed, so the browser toolbar comparison isn't perfect.

I don't think I understand. You can install different home apps, and you can select which one will launch when you hit the home button. I do this, often.

What he means is, a big problem with browser toolbars is that they are installed automatically.

With different home apps, the user is always in control. (Although resetting a default once you've chosen it could be made a lot easier)

So comparing it to browser toolbars doesn't really work.

Post reply on HN