Facebook adds birthday and event notifications, other features to Paper app

Facebook has updated its Paper app for iOS to version 1.1 bringing new features like extra notifications, image replies and more.

The Flipboard-style news reader app for iOS users, launched in January, will now sport notifications for birthdays and events. Users can simply go through these notifications by tapping on the globe icon, just like any other notifications.

Other added features include an enhanced photo comment functionality that lets users click images and send as a reply; new unread counts for users to see which groups have new posts; nine new article covers enabling users to easily spot articles from publications like Bloomberg News, Mashable, Fox news, Vanity Fair, The Hollywood Reporter, FT, kottke, Popular Science, and Hacker News; arrow indicator for stories in different sections; and other bug fixes and enhancements to make the app perform faster.

Facebook also mentioned that on an average, Paper users explore around 80 stories every day from five to six sections. The most popular 'section' is apparently Facebook itself, followed by Headlines, Tech, Ideas, LOL, and Pop Life. However, the firm did not mention when the app will reach Android or other platforms, or indeed become available in regions other than US. The Facebook Paper app for iOS is available to download from the App Store.

Facebook, on Friday, rolled out a feature allowing users of its mobile app to to discover friends near them. The optional "nearby friends" feature "helps you discover which friends are nearby or on the go," said product manager Andrea Vaccari in a blog announcement.