Facebook’s app gets an update: the navigation bar will show icons of the services most used by users
Improving the usability of its app is one of the goals Facebook pursues by making very small changes every day. In the last period, new icons for menu items have been introduced and privacy settings have been made easier.
The changes, however, don’t end there. In the coming weeks, Facebook is ready to release an update that will change the number and icons displayed within the navigation bar. To be clear, this is the bar that is located at the top in the Android app and at the bottom in the iOS app. So far, there are five icons displayed and they can’t be chosen by the user: the first one is the News Feed (the wall with everything that our friends and pages we follow post), then Friend Requests, Notifications, the Marketplace (Facebook’s “marketplace”) and the Menu.
The new update will bring a simple change: three icons will be identical for all users, while the others will change depending on the app’s usage habits. Facebook will use the data it has to show the icons with the services a person uses the most.
How the Facebook app’s navigation bar changes
From the five icons visible now in the navigation bar, it will change to between four and six with the update. The number varies depending on the actions a user takes within the app: if you only use Facebook to see what your friends are posting, there will most likely be only four icons. The three notifications common to all users will be: News Feed, Notifications and Menu, while your profile, friend requests, Markerplace and Groups will be among the variable ones.
The update will be released in the coming weeks and Facebook will notify all users by showing a message when they access the application. In addition, Facebook will offer the possibility to customize the navigation bar with the services that you use the most during the day.