Facebook is one of the essential applications if you have a smartphone, be it an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy, a Huawei or any other Android phone. The problem is that Android phones are also very different from each other and in many cases, the Facebook application does not work as it should, it is slow to load and not very fluid. However, Facebook for Android has improved a lot since the beginning, where what was called Facebook Katana was a terrible app that lacked many functions. For the updated Facebook app on Android we see here some tips, tricks and instructions to have an overall guide to use it better and find out what you can do, not always so obvious.
READ ALSO: All the ways to access Facebook on mobile
1) Sort the news according to the most recent
On Facebook the news is sorted, by default, according to the importance assigned to them by an algorithm.
If you want to sort the updates in chronological order you have to change a somewhat hidden setting.
Press the button of the three lines at the top right and tap on the wheel next to the word news to go to the most recent .
The option, once in a while, automatically returns to the main news so if you notice a mess again, now we know where to go to touch.
2) Fast message widget
Facebook for Android has a widget that can be put on the home screen to quickly share a status update, a photo, a news or your position, without having to open the application.
This widget can be added by long pressing on an empty space on the main screen of the mobile phone, choosing Facebook and then Facebook buttons .
3) Edit Favorites
Going back inside the application, the menu on the left highlights some options that can really be useless for someone.
You can edit this menu by scrolling down and tapping on the Edit favorites button, then dragging the various items up or down.
4) See the last time friends entered Facebook on their mobile phone
This rather disturbing feature is available on both the iPhone and Android apps.
Just access the chat by touching the icon in the upper right corner and scroll the list of friends, also noting the time when each of them was seen online.
Everyone knows then what was the last time you checked Facebook on your mobile phone.
To hide from the chat and not show the last time you are connected, disconnect from the internet, open the application, go to the settings and then disable the availability in chat if you do not want to receive messages.
Keep in mind that Facebook chat is also on the Facebok Messenger application which must therefore be disabled.
5) Notification management
In the menu on the right, go to Accounts -> App Settings and find the notification settings in order to avoid getting notifications for unimportant things.
Deselect notifications completely if you don't want to receive push messages from Facebook.
Keep in mind that Facebook consumes a lot of battery on Android so disabling notifications will help a lot to make the charge last longer (READ ALSO: Check which application consumes more battery on Android )
6) Share on Facebook from other applications
One of the best features of Android is the ability to integrate apps with each other and, therefore, share practically anything you want, photos, videos or other, from other applications, on Facebook, directly.
For each object opened in Android, for example a photo, you can touch the sharing symbol and select Facebook from the menu to do the sharing.
7) Access the settings
From the Facebook app for Android, you can always press the menu button to access the application settings.
In addition, from the left sidebar that opens by pressing the three lines button at the top left, you can scroll down, tap on Account and access the general settings of the Facebook account which are the same that open from the website .
From mobile or tablet, this screen of applications is much easier to use and understand, and any changes affect the general account.
8) Sync Photos
In the Facebook application settings you can activate photo synchronization in the sense that every photo that is taken by the mobile phone camera is also uploaded, when connected to the internet, in a private Facebook album visible only to us.
The photos are therefore not shared.
I want to say that Facebook is not the only app that allows you to do this and, among others, you can synchronize Android photos on Facebook, Google Photos, Dropbox.
9) Synchronize Facebook contacts with the address book of your Android mobile phone
An Android smartphone, even if from Samsung or HTC, requires access to a Google account and the address book is synchronized in Gmail.
Facebook contacts can still be included in this address book, by going to the phone settings and then pressing on Facebook in the accounts section.
By activating contact synchronization you should be able to view profile photos as photos and contacts in the address book.
Much more effectively you can synchronize photos and other contact info from Facebook with Sync.me
10) Location services
Also in the settings of the facebook application you can enable or disable the location services.
If they are enabled, the name of the place where you are located is also shared when you write a status update or reply to a message.
Note that the nearby friends feature does not work (so related notifications are always muted).
11) Improve performance
As mentioned above, the Facebook app can become slow and this is because of the cache which, if allowed to grow too much, ends up affecting the performance and speed of the application.
Every now and then go to Phone Settings> Applications> Facebook and touch the button to clear the cache . This should make the app lighter.
Do not confuse the cache key with " Clear data " which instead completely resets the application and you will need to re-enter the user password and reconfigure each setting. If you use many applications at the same time and switch between them, it will be appropriate to terminate them from the application manager in use, to leave Facebook more memory.
12) Calling Facebook friends for free is possible from the Android application as explained in another article.
13) Stop automatic playback of Facebook videos on Android
14) Change the application by replacing the official Facebook app with an unofficial one, faster
If you have a medium or low-end mobile phone, the Facebook app could go really slowly and load very slowly.
You can therefore try a different app like some reported in the list of the fastest and lightest alternative apps to use Facebook on Android .
15) On the Android app, you can also disable Facebook's internal browser and open links from Chrome .
16) "Friends in the vicinity" of Facebook is instead the function to share the position with friends and know where they are at all times.
Finally, in addition to the main application, Facebook also has two other official apps for Android phones :
- Facebook Messenger to chat, text and call for free.
- Page manager to access Facebook as administrator of the fan pages they manage.
