The social network Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) has recently announced that they are redesigning the Notifications tab features on their mobile apps. Information such as events happening near your location, what movies are playing at your local theaters, the restaurants nearby, weather updates and more are going to be incorporated to the mobile interface.
“Every day, people use their notifications to keep up-to-date with their friends and family. We’ve heard feedback that people wanted to add important information that they can easily see, all in one place,” Keith Peiris, Facebook Product Manager, said in a press release.
The current notifications section only alerts you when your friends interact with you. Alerts appear if you have been tagged or somebody comments and likes one of your posts. This new development will now show you not only what’s happening within Facebook, but also things that are around you.
Developers have clarified that this feature is only available to those who want it and enable Facebook’s Location History. In order to avoid irrelevant information, users are going to be able to customize these notifications based on their own desires.
Announcements such as friends getting new jobs, moving or having a baby, are some of the examples that will come with this change. Not only will you be able to find a place to eat, but you will be able to search for other nearby businesses. Additionally, based on the pages you’ve liked you will be able to view what is going on with your favorite bands, keep up with sports scores and receive reminders about your most loved TV shows.
Facebook has always relied on its users to input and upload personalized information. Now, they are looking to become more of a personal assistant combined with the social media they are.
This has not been the only development the company has been working on this year. In August, David Marcus, head of Facebook Messenger reported on his wall a post about how the company was testing M, their artificial intelligence based service which can complete tasks on your behalf. Since then, the company has not said if this service will move beyond the testing phase.
Critics have already been pointing out the similarities between Facebook’s new mobile notification feature and Google Now, which was launched by Google in 2012. Even though Facebook has not given a specific date as to when these notifications will appear on your phone, this new change is already getting users excited.
Source: TIME