The last few days have brought the release of a handful of new features on the two most important social networks on the planet: Facebook and Instagram are upgrading their apps and the changes should roll out to everyone in a few days. What’s good about this is that the upgrades are aimed at making our lives a wee bit easier. Which is exactly what any app worth its salt should be trying to do, isn’t it?
Facebook design changes
The blog for the popular social network explains that Facebook wants to make its News Feed a better place and to that end has applied a series of changes to how it’s designed. Nothing revolutionary, but the suggested changes promise to improve browsing in this space where billions of people spend zillions of hours in endless scroll.
The first thing that jumps out at you about the new design are the changes to its legibility: greater color contrast to make the font easier to read; an increase in the size of embedded links; bigger Like, Comment, and Share buttons; and circle profile pics instead of square ones. The latter change to the thumbnail profile pics brings the app closer to other Facebook-owned apps like WhatsApp and Instagram. Besides these changes, the comments section will also be much clearer and replying is simpler than ever.
The way you browse through the app will also get some changes and now you can see where a link will take you before you click on it. Plus the old Back button is set to get replaced by something bigger and more notable. Everything follows the minimalist line that it seems Facebook will stick to so it’s easier to enjoy the different posts and comments on them.
Instagram changes the format of comments and improves DMs
Instagram has been bringing us new stuff every week lately, though in most cases it tends to be new filters or sticker packs to expand users’ communication possibilities. This time, though, it’s focused on a significant shakeup to the format of comments on posts. From now on comments will be threaded, which considerably boosts their readability and the flow of conversation. When you answer somebody using the Reply button you can see the comment set off underneath, unlike now which is an absolute mess.
This isn’t the only new thing to come out on Instagram in recent days, as they’re also going to release new ways to chat via DM. You can make your conversations even more fun thanks to the fact that you can interact with photos, videos, and posts shared privately with a photo or video with a sticker showing what you’re replying to. Plus the sticker is editable as usual and you’ll have a new option to share the screen behind a sticker to create fun compositions.
Facebook for Android on Uptodown [APK] | Download
Instagram for Android on Uptodown [APK] | Download
