Ina Fried

Recent Posts by Ina Fried

Facebook Tries to Make Its Home More Inviting by Welcoming Photos From Other Services

Aiming to make its mobile environment more attractive to Android users, Facebook announced on Thursday that it will start allowing Facebook Home users to see photos and posts from Flickr, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram from their lock screen.

The feature, which also lets users “Like” posts from other services, will be available later on Thursday for those using Home who are also part of the Facebook-for-Android beta program. Users will need to connect to each additional service, and log in with their credentials. Eventually, all Home users will be able to link into the other photo services.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at a talk at last month’s TechCrunch Disrupt conference that Facebook would begin allowing Home users to view content from outside services.

Facebook debuted Home in April as a Facebook-centric replacement for the traditional Android lock screen and app launcher, but found less-than-enthusiastic response from many people. A phone with Facebook Home built in — the HTC First — sold poorly, and Facebook’s effort to get preloaded on phones has been put on hold while the company retools the Home experience.

Latest Video

View all videos »

Search »

There was a worry before I started this that I was going to burn every bridge I had. But I realize now that there are some bridges that are worth burning.

— Valleywag editor Sam Biddle