Facebook just wrapped up the first day of their F8 2018 developer conference keynote. The F8 2018 is an annual two-day event where developers come together to explore the future of technology. Mark Zuckerberg just announced the powerful tools to keep developers excited about continuing to build on his platform. He discussed Facebook’s responsibility to keep building services that bring people together in meaningful new ways across Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Messenger, and Oculus Go.
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Mark Zuckerberg shared the big announcement that Facebook will soon launch a dating feature that allows people to match inside groups or events you’re interested in attending. The Facebook dating feature will allow people to message each other using only their first names and start conversations that are separate from the core Facebook or Messenger app. “People already use Facebook to meet new people, and we want to make that experience better.” The new Facebook relationships and dating feature’s launch date is not yet confirmed.
The giant also introduces a new Facebook Groups Tab; this will help you to navigate to your existing groups more easily and will be able to join and discover new groups through the tab.
Sharing stories has also become much easier on both Facebook and Instagram. People share their interests on Facebook, and now it is making that experience much faster, easier and more creative on stories. You just need to tap on the share button in an app to share directly into the camera and can edit and share your story from there.
Another recent feature launched for people in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan is to register as blood donors on Facebook for those donors who want to help their community but don’t know where to donate. And in a few weeks, people in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan can view nearby blood donation camps and find the request for blood donations and blood banks from one place on Facebook.
Updates for Instagram with AR camera to make interaction much more entertaining, including face filter and world effects. Video chat updates will be available on Instagram Direct, empowering one-on-one and group conversations.
While WhatsApp is not getting a refresh quite as dramatic as Messenger, it will be receiving a few minor updates such as group video calls and stickers. And new features for businesses are to launch, though the company did not outline them specifically during the keynote.
Messenger
AR messenger experience is its next feature. The M translations will help to translate more easily in Marketplace, a place on Facebook to buy and sell things locally. The overall revamp is focused on making things cleaner and faster, with an upcoming dark mode teased in a short promotional video, Messenger VP of product David Marcus says.
Oculus Go
The standalone VR headset is now available from Facebook for purchase at $199. The new Oculus Go will support experiences like Watch Party, multiplayer games, and even live shows such as concerts and experiential theater. As packed with the headset, there will now be an Oculus TV hub for users to stream content from ESPN, Netflix, Showtime, and more.