Facebook Testing Tabs on App to Make Organising News Feed Easier

Facebook is working on making it easier for users to browse the News Feed by implementing a tabbed version of it. Currently in the prototype phase, it will give users an option to sort the feed into ‘Most Relevant', ‘Most Recent', and ‘Already Seen'. This will allow users to easily access the latest updates on their feed and also go back to a post that they have already seen, in case they want to share it with someone or comment on it. This new feature can make browsing the News Feed more dynamic and at the same time, more efficient.

This prototype was sourced by Jane Manchun Wong who reverse-engineers apps to find security vulnerabilities and new features. Wong took this discovery to Twitter where the tipster shared screenshots showing the three tabs.

Screenshot showing new sorting feature
Photo Credit: Twitter/ Jane Manchun Wong

TechCrunch reportedly spoke with Facebook and a spokesperson noted that they have been using the feature internally.

“We're testing ways to make it easier to find, as well as sort by posts you've already seen”, the spokesperson said. A company spokesperson also re-tweeted the post shared by Wong along with the comment, “You can already view your Facebook News Feed chronologically. The screenshot below is how we're testing ways to make it easier to find, as well as sort by, posts you've already seen.”

TechCrunch suggests users will spend more time scrolling through the app if they have a way to sort their feed. They will have a quick alternative for when they've gone through the most recent posts and simply select the ‘Most Relevant' tab and start scrolling there. This would, of course, help Facebook increase ad views.

Right now, the official Facebook app has just the ‘Most Recent' sorting option that is available in the menu. If this feature is implemented, users will see the three tabs right on their app home screen from where they can quickly sort their field.