Facebook 6.5 to launch today with refreshed, iOS 7-savvy design
Facebook is launching an iOS app update today that includes a new menu at the bottom of the app for enhanced navigation, along with design elements inspired by Apple's just released iOS 7.

Source: Facebook
The new menu in Facebook 6.5 (emphasized above and and presented in full screen below) lets users quickly switch from their News Feed to friend Requests, Messages or Notifications with a tap along the bottom of the screen. Previous versions of the iOS app used side menus that slid in from either side.

Source: Facebook
A tap on ?More? (below) provides additional options, including access to your own Timeline, groups, events and more. The new app is also designed to reflect the design cues of iOS 7, including a translucent bar at the top of the app that dynamically shifts as the user scrolls through feed posts and photos.

Source: Facebook.
In addition to the new appearance, and the user facing enhancements present in bundled apps, iOS 7 offers app developers new features including AirDrop and expanded sharing, new Multitasking support for background updates, Sprite Kit and new Game Center features, iBeacon support for Bluetooth LE, Inter-App Audio for streaming audio between music apps, new Map Kit features for navigation and overlays, high frame rate video capture, custom video composition and barcode scanning.

iOS 7 will also introduce support for the iPhone 5s with Touch ID, incorporating Apple's latest and most advanced 64-bit A7 Application Processor.

Source: Facebook
The new menu in Facebook 6.5 (emphasized above and and presented in full screen below) lets users quickly switch from their News Feed to friend Requests, Messages or Notifications with a tap along the bottom of the screen. Previous versions of the iOS app used side menus that slid in from either side.

Source: Facebook
A tap on ?More? (below) provides additional options, including access to your own Timeline, groups, events and more. The new app is also designed to reflect the design cues of iOS 7, including a translucent bar at the top of the app that dynamically shifts as the user scrolls through feed posts and photos.

Source: Facebook
In addition to the new appearance, and the user facing enhancements present in bundled apps, iOS 7 offers app developers new features including AirDrop and expanded sharing, new Multitasking support for background updates, Sprite Kit and new Game Center features, iBeacon support for Bluetooth LE, Inter-App Audio for streaming audio between music apps, new Map Kit features for navigation and overlays, high frame rate video capture, custom video composition and barcode scanning.

iOS 7 will also introduce support for the iPhone 5s with Touch ID, incorporating Apple's latest and most advanced 64-bit A7 Application Processor.
Comments
I was somewhat surprised to read on AnandTech that all of iOS7 and (as I read it) all Apple apps are 64 bit on the iPhone 5s. Some folks (including myself) are wondering how fast third party software will follow to 64 bit...
edit: and why is this Brian Zeitler guy not smiling. He's on Facebook after all.
I just hope they have improved performance... It's been nearly unusable as of late.
Evil Facebook not on any Apple adorn.
Google free I should be
If iCloud to another client be worn.
Sigh.
Is it still popular? I hear a lot of folks -at the barber- they hardly use it anymore. Having 900M accounts won't do much if people don't interact. Wrong word; hanging their laundry out for everyone to see, be it clean...or dirty. Interaction is something different, like connecting with someone, over the phone, meeting, instead of Facebook.
edit: and why is this Brian Zeitler guy not smiling. He's on Facebook after all.
I deleted my account a few months ago
Google free I should be
a bit of Yoda in there?
Is it still popular? I hear a lot of folks -at the barber- they hardly use it anymore. Having 900M accounts won't do much if people don't interact. Wrong word; hanging their laundry out for everyone to see, be it clean...or dirty. Interaction is something different, like connecting with someone, over the phone, meeting, instead of Facebook.
edit: and why is this Brian Zeitler guy not smiling. He's on Facebook after all.
I haven't opened it in a couple weeks. And when I do, it's only when I need the entertainment of grotesque human stupidity.
meh, Facebook jumped the shark for me months ago. I check it maybe once a month, if that. I got tired of the mindless reposts, intrusive marketing tactics, and every time they updated and "improved" the app it just became more annoying to use. I stay in touch with the people who matter the old-fashined way, emails and phone calls.
I hope you also deleted the history, some weird stories going on in that department (like still receiving emails when people tag you in a photo, or somesuch)
I'd be happy if it just let me set my news feed to "most recent" by default.
Glancing at these screenshots, it looks like Facebook 6.5 has less vertical space for displaying content as a result of this change. It looks like the menu at the top got split into two: a portion at the top and an expanded portion at the bottom.
I cannot say I am particularly impressed, if correct. I prefer a minimalistic approach to UI design -- much like post-Chrome for web browsers.
My news feed is busy as ever. I never noticed a slowdown in Facebook interaction.
Unless I happen to be connected to the only people who still use Facebook :err:
But I find that unlikely...
Looks like the Slide-Out navigation has been dropped for a Tab-Bar navigation at the bottom similar to the iPod App, App Store App and other native apps.
I feel they took the wrong turn here. Less vertical space. And why should they take iOS7 design cues? I'm perfectly willing to conform to the rules of an app, as long as the design choices are logical and somewhat in line with trends (and therefore my expectations in U.I behavior)
It's a wretchedly slow app, and prone to crashes. It also has idiotic text edit views (full width isn't available to the actual text, frames close the editing function, etc). Like OKCupid, these guys are totally not using the iPhone API, just so they can make cross-platform apps. The result is a GUI that is not only inconsistent with the OS, but also badly designed in general.
Funny how all this applies to the company in general as well.