Most people don’t know it, but there is a slightly modified interface for Facebook for Android floating around. You could wait for it to reach and Android Market, but, thanks to the folks over at Android Central, there is a hack to get it on your device right now. This may go down as one of the strangest work-arounds that I have ever come across, but it actually worked so I will let it slide.
To get started make sure you have the latest Facebook app installed (version 1.6) and launch it. Once it is open, begin clicking buttons and then quickly clicking the “Back” button until the app crashes.
Go ahead and click “Force Close” and then reopen the Facebook app.
Once open you should have a slightly different Facebook app. It still shows as version 1.6, but the look has changed somewhat. I didn’t take a screenshot of the original, but there was one in the Android market. Take a look below at the top menu from the “News Feed” page.
Now, check out the “News Feed” top menu of this newer version that is from a screenshot that I just took off of my device.
When you press the item on the right of the top menu (Top News in the above shot) you will receive a new pop-up menu that you can scroll through.
There is no word about when this will be legitimately available, but if you can’t wait, then this strange hack does seem to work. Let us know if it works for you, and what you think of the new UI.
I don’t think we need to force close it’s an update available for all devices !
I gotta say this was the weirdest thing ever…but it worked on the first try. Frantically just kept pushing the news feed, profile, and places buttons, etc and it forced closed. Opened it up and there it was.
Thanks for the tip I actually like this new version a little bit better. Still wish I had the ability to delete my own posts tho! Annoying to have to make a post with a mistake on the app to have to sign in thru mobile web to delete it.
I also got this with no force close and I absolutely hate it. Notifications don’t work to great and I keep having to switch to latest news which is soooo annoying.
I’m running 2.3.4 custom ROM on a Hero (GSM)
It did take me a few days to actually see the interface change after updating. I just don’t remember if I saw it after it forced close once or it just appeared
Sounds like it may have been pushed to some devices.
I have this new version, but didn’t deliberately do that, it seems also that the notifications refresh better as well as this new feature and revamped look.
I have noticed the new UI version of 1.6 that this post describes for at least two days – no forcing or hacking required.