Facebook has kicked off its annual developer conference – F8 2019, on 30th April, and the company just finished its opening keynote. This year, Facebook wants to show everyone that it is serious about privacy, as the company doesn't have a good track record when it comes to the safety of user data.
During the keynote, Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg said, "I get that a lot of people are sure we aren't serious. We don't have the strongest reputation on privacy right now to put it lightly." Last year, Facebook was plagued by a controversy – invading its users' privacy, data misuse, and security problems. In the keynote, Zuckerberg has explained how Facebook is 'privacy-focused'.
Apart from privacy, Facebook has made slew of announcements in the keynote. The social media giant has revealed some changes in Facebook feed, Instagram stories, Messenger and many more. Let's take look at the biggest announcements at the F8 developer conference.
A fresh look for Facebook with a new focus
Facebook has revealed that it is going to use downplaying the News Feed. Zuckerberg calls this update as "FB5," which will highlight groups and events, creating a group tab of the close persons and personalized feed from the groups you've joined — rather than a generalized update feed from your friends.
The redesign also has a feature of Meet New Friends, which will help to connect strangers who have something (like a school or employer) in common. Android and iOS apps are getting a redesign update earlier, and after that, the desktop site will be revamped in the coming months.
Instagram's new camera and like counts
Facebook is going to update Instagram's camera interface with adding a new "Creator Mode," which will help to share content in a simple way. The revamped camera interface is easier to use and it will help to share quizzes, stickers and other effects to your followers.
Another feature that will come to Instagram is a private like counts feature: you will able to see who liked a pic, but you won't get an exact number of likes. Instagram is coming with this feature as a way for Instagram users to spend less time worrying about likes and more time connecting with other users.
Messenger for desktop
Right now, if you want to use the Messenger app, you would have to whip out your smartphones. But in coming months, you will able to use it on your Mac or Windows as the Facebook says it's planning to launch a standalone desktop version for Mac and Windows in F8 conference.
Get ready for Facebook Dating
Last year at F8, Facebook announced plans to launch a dating game. After that, the company has been gradually rolling out the feature as a test in five different places (Colombia, Thailand, Canada, Argentina, and Mexico). Now, this feature is going to expand to 14 more countries, mostly in Asia and South America.
Facebook has added a feature that could help you to find love among your Facebook friends – called 'Secret Crush'. For that, you will have to create a profile of nine people you're interested in. if they also set up a dating profile then Facebook will tell them that they have a secret crush. And if you are in their crush list, Facebook will bring you two crazy persons together.
To get more update from Facebook F8 2019, stay tuned with us.
