One of the most awaited developer conferences “Facebook F8” was held at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, CA on May 1, 2018. In case you missed the live stream of F8 on Day 1, here’s everything you need to know about what Facebook announced on Day 1 at F8:
Privacy Tool – Clear History: Facebook announced the launch of a new tool called Clear History which is aimed at giving more control to the users. It is similar to deleting cookies and browsing history on your web browser. This tool will help you remove any information Facebook has about you from your interactions on Facebook.
Dating Platform: Facebook announced that it will be rolling out a new feature to its mobile app that will try to help single users find their soulmates. Facebook will match you based on all its data, and messaging will happen in a dedicated inbox rather than Messenger.
Video Chat: One of the most awaited features on Instagram and Whatsapp, Facebook plans to roll out video chat (including group video chat) to Instagram and Whatsapp. Augmented reality effects, such as face filters, will be coming to Instagram and Facebook Messenger. Users will also get more third-party integrations when uploading a story in Instagram.
Groups Tab: Groups Tab will help you navigate to your existing groups more easily and interact with content from all your groups.
Whatsapp: WhatsApp will be getting several new changes including stickers and business-focused app features in addition to the group video call. It will also let allow third parties to develop their own collections of stickers.
Oculus Go: In a first, Facebook announced an Oculus virtual reality headset that does not require a connection to a phone or computers. Currently priced at $199, the new VR headset includes all the computing power inside the device itself. It costs $199 for the version with 32GB of onboard storage, and $249 for the 64GB variety.
Elections Integrity & Fake News: Facebook announces new election transparency tools, which include account verification and information about who paid for the ads. It also includes new AI tools that can successfully identify fake accounts and to take them down. They also announced tools that will help take down Fake News and accounts. Facebook will re-open its app review process following the pause it took after the Cambridge Analytica crisis
New Look to Messenger: Facebook is giving Messenger a major design overhaul, promising a much simpler and cleaner user experience. The bottom navigation has been simplified to three central tabs that focus on communication. Icons for the camera and video chat remain present at the upper right of the app, but everything looks much more streamlined. It’s going to have a dark mode too.
Looks like another intense is ahead for Facebook.