Facebook talks progress for developing mobile markets

Facebook is looking to connect as much of the world as possible, and that includes emerging markets where connectivity and access to hardware is still in its infancy stage. To make sure these markets have access to the social network, Facebook rounded up some of its team and took a trip to Africa.

The team went to the region to test mobile performance, saying they bought different Android smartphones and tested the newest version of Facebook on them. As expected, they ran into more than a few issues, among them being poor connections and low memory issues with the phones.

Most telling was how fast the Facebook team used up their monthly data limits on the handsets: 40 minutes.

Based on this information, the team says it has gone to work to improve the issues, including improving slow start times on old smartphones, getting the News Feed up faster, improving how it handles data, reducing data usage through various means.

Both the application's size and issue with networking were also addressed, with Facebook saying the use of OkHttp has sped things up by allowing for faster retries in network situations like the ones present in areas in Africa.

New features will be developed with these issues and needs in mind, helping shape the future of the app so that users in more locations can use it as best as possible.

SOURCE: Facebook