Facebook for Windows Phone 8 gets major overhaul

Microsoft has announced a major update for the Windows Phone 8 Facebook app. The company has taken the beta tag off the Windows Phone 8 app and is rolling the update out to all users now.

The Facebook beta programme was created to get the help of power users on the Windows Phone platform for testing and giving feedback on how the app would look and function. The programme was rolled out in April and has now been brought up to version 5.0.  

More like Android and iOS now

The updated app has a completely overhauled user interface that is reminiscent of Facebook for iOS and Android. The sliding navigation bar from the right-hand side of the screen and the sliding panel on the left for chat is somethign we have seen on other platforms. The update also contains support for high-res images, post-sharing and the much-needed Facebook Timeline view amongst other new features and improvements.

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The company in its blog has still urged Windows Phone users to try out newest features for Facebook by downloading the separate Facebook Beta app from the Windows Phone Store. You will need a direct link to access the app, though. Searching for it on the Store will yield no results. This beta app will let users preview and provide direct feedback on future changes to the application.

While the Facebook version 5.0 update is available only for Windows Phone 8 devices for now, Microsoft has promised that Windows Phone 7 users will get this app later in the summer. Grab the Facebook app from the Windows Phone Store.