Facebook rolling out redesign for iPhone, iPad apps

Facebook is releasing an update to its iPhone and iPad apps Tuesday that will include many of the new features it has promised over the last several months.

The social network said the apps will now feature the redesigned News Feed it announced in March. Facebook says the change will be most notable in its iPad app; the new design will emphasize photos more than it has in the past.

The app update also adds a new feature called “Chat Heads” that Facebook introduced earlier this month when it announced Facebook Home, its new interface for Android smartphones.

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Chat Heads are bubbles that will show up within the Facebook app whenever users are chatting with their friends through the social network. As users go through their News Feed or check out a friend’s Timeline, the bubbles will notify them if they receive a new message. Users can tap on those bubbles to quickly open up the conversation without leaving the page they are on in the Facebook app. Users can move around the so-called Chat Heads anywhere on the screen, and if they want to delete a conversation, they can simply flick them down to close them.

Facebook is also introducing a new feature for its social network with the update. The company will now let users send one another “stickers” whenever they send a Facebook message. Stickers are similar to emoticons but are much bigger. Path, another social network, rolled out stickers for its own app back in March, and now Facebook is following those footsteps.

The company said users will be able to download the new app later Tuesday. Facebook did not say when Android users will receive a similar update.

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