Day one of Facebook’s F8 developer conference is done and dusted. The company wrapped up its keynote, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg doing his best to keep developers
Day one of Facebook’s F8 developer conference is done and dusted.
The company wrapped up its keynote, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg doing his best to keep developers interested in building for his platform. He attempted to rally them, but at the same time, he announced several new updates coming to Facebook’s product lineup, which includes the main Facebook app, Instagram, Oculus, and WhatsApp.
Here’s the main takeaways.
F8 is Facebook’s developer conference – an event where the social network usually announces plans for its key initiatives as well as updates for its products, like that Facebook will soon offer a dating feature. Seriously.
The conference kicks of at 10am PST on 1 May 2018. Here are the local starting times across the world:
Here’s the main keynote’s livestream:
Facebook will livestream its keynote over on its dedicated F8 website and on Facebook Live here.
Facebook offers several copycat features, from Marketplace (a Craigslist-like service) to Stories (a Snapchat Stories-like tool), and now, it’s adding a Tinder-like feature. Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will soon offer a dating feature, which will allow you to browse for potential matches within groups or events you’re interested in attending.
He said people will be able to message each other (using their first names only) and start conversations (separate from the main Facebook app and Messenger app), though he did not confirm when the feature will launch.
Facebook-owned Oculus has made its standalone mobile virtual reality headset available. You can now buy Oculus Go from oculus.com in 23 countries, including the UK and US. The $199 standalone virtual reality headset will support social experiences like Watch Party, multiplayer games, and even live shows like concerts.
Facebook also announced there will be an Oculus TV hub that lets users stream content from ESPN, Netflix, Showtime, and more. You can read more about Oculus Go and its platform from our in-depth guide here.
Facebook Messenger’s VP of product, David Marcus, said Messenger will soon get a complete refresh focused on streamlining the app so that it’s cleaner and runs faster. An upcoming dark mode was also teased.
Facebook-owned Instagram was, of course, mentioned at the show. Soon, its users will be able to use AR face filters from brands and influencers. Instagram also teased even more third-party integrations for Stories. For instance, a GoPro clip could be uploaded directly to Stories, or you can share what you’re now listening to on Spotify.
Instagram is also rolling out a new mode, called Focus, to Stories. It blurs the background while keeping someone’s face sharp. It’s also updating its offensive comment filter to automatically filter out comments “containing attacks on a person’s appearance or character, as well as threats to a person’s well-being or health.”
Finally, Instagram is adding a video calling feature with group conferencing.
Facebook-owned WhatsApp is getting several updates, too, including stickers and group video calls in the coming months. We didn’t heard many details to give about how group video calls will work just yet, but from the example promo video shown at F8, we can tell that calls will allow four people to simultaneously participate.
WhatsApp is also getting stickers and will allow third parties to develop their own stickers.
Stay tuned to Pocket-lint’s Facebook hub for related news, reviews, and analysis. You can also check out the official Facebook F8 website for more news from the developer conference.
