Facebook has moved further away from HTML5 after releasing a native version of its Android app.
Facebook
for Android version 2.0 has been built from scratch leveraging native
Android controls, as compared to previous versions of the app which were
built using HTML5.
While HTML5 offers cross-platform
compatibility which means you can use the same code across various
platforms like Android and iOS but its overall performance and integration cannot match that of
apps using controls native to the platform.
Speed - more than
anything else - is the reason Facebook switched from the old HTML5 iOS
app to a new native app back in August. Now it has done the same on the
Android platform. Facebook claims the new app "is twice as fast when
looking at photos and opening your Timeline and noticeably quicker to
launch".
There's further good news for developers. Facebook
announced that Facebook SDK 3.0 for Android is out of beta. The new SDK
makes it easier to build social Android apps by providing native UI
controls for Facebook login, simplifying session management, and
improving API support. Other native controls included in the API are
Friend Picker, Places Picker and Profile Picture control. For full
details of the new API visit the Android page on Facebook Developers
portal.
Facebook has been talking about mobile as a key area of
focus since its IPO earlier this year and native apps for the two major
mobile platforms is definitely a step in the right direction.
Facebook for Android (Free)
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