Facebook to unveil ‘Home’ mobile initiative

Facebook is introducing a range of software programmes that put a user’s Facebook page on the home screen of Android smartphones.

Facebook is introducing a range of software programmes that put a user’s Facebook page on the home screen of Android smartphones.

Through the mobile initiative called Home, consumers would be able to instantly see updates from their Facebook friends, reply to network messages, or use Facebook’s suite of apps.

The company said the information it can collect with Home is the same as what it gathers when people visit its site through web browsers on desktop or laptop computers.

No adverts will appear on users’ home screens at launch, although Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the company will look into that option in the future.

Facebook is to also pre-install the Facebook suite of apps on the new HTC First phone.

Users will also be able to download Home onto selected Android phones through Google’s app store.

Zuckerberg said: “Today our phones are designed around apps, not people. We want to flip that around.”

Company officials did not address whether they had plans to bring a version to the iPhone, the Washington Post reported.