Facebook app update for iOS adds status update icons, improved privacy controls and more

Facebook had introduced the "How are you feeling" status options back in April. The feature entered its roll out phase in India last month.

The options offer drop down boxes featuring emoticons and activities such as watching, reading, listening to, drinking, and eating. After selecting an activity that involves media, the status update also includes an image and link to the content's Facebook Page. The option comes in the form of a smiley on the status window. Clicking on it lets you choose the "What are you doing?" activity. You can then add the name of whatever you are watching, reading or eating and it is accompanied by an icon supporting it.

Another addition to the application's features is with regards to privacy. Facebook has updated the quick Edit privacy feature to modify who you want to share a post with. You can choose people from lists or groups and keep your privacy concerns in check. The feature has existed earlier on Android as well as iOS, but the upgrade makes it quicker and refines it.

Another new feature is the ability for users to start a new conversation with photos they receive in messages. So, you can now tap on a photo received in a conversation in order to share it in another message and initiate a new chat. After you tap on an image, you get the option of "Send in Message" with which you can further choose who you wish to send the image to.

There is also a change in the animation with the chat heads that works for the chat window. Now, you can hide your chat window simply with a swipe up gesture. However, this addition is not mentioned on the application description page in iTunes.