We are generally used to using certain services (such as mail, social networks, etc.) from the browser. However, just as developers launch their own mobile apps, it is also possible to download these universal applications to the computer so as not to depend on the browser. Facebook is one of the most popular social networks today. And, although it has its own website (of course), we can also use it from its own official client. Client who, by the way, has just returned to Windows 10 after more than a year off the system.
In February 2020, Facebook announced the end of support for its universal app for Windows 10. The company was going to remove the app from the Microsoft Store and it was going to stop working when its own API crashed. Those responsible for the company recommended that users use the web version and leave this app.
The reasons are not very well known. It may be because the classic app had very poor quality as it was inherited from the Windows 8 era, or because users were not using it and maintaining it implied an unnecessary loss of time. Be that as it may, Facebook disappeared from Windows 10 and nothing was ever heard from it again. Up to now.
Facebook returns to Windows 10 completely renewed
A few hours ago, without prior notice, the Facebook app has reappeared in the Microsoft Store . And it has been totally renewed and improved.
Still in beta, the new app for the social network is designed to improve the user experience. This new application is now in PWA format , and is based on the Chromium engine . In addition, to work, it is necessary to have Windows 10 build 19003, or higher, installed on the PC. That is, it will not work in any version of Windows prior to 2020.
The app is practically the same as the website . And we can do with it the same as we could do from any browser. We can see the friends who are online, read the posts, share updates, photos and videos and even switch between a light mode and a dark mode.
This new Facebook app is just what Windows 10 needed. In addition, being PWA, its maintenance is much easier, since it is updated at the same time as the web code is updated, therefore, we will always have the latest features and news on the web. The app looks great, and gives us an almost totally independent experience from Chrome.
Download
This new app is available, completely free of charge, for all Windows 10 users. We can find it and download it directly from the Microsoft Store, where it is already updated to this new PWA model (and with the ” beta ” label next to the name ).
Thanks to the nature of PWA apps, this new Facebook application occupies only 2.43 megabytes . And it does not consume more resources than the open social network consumes in any browser. Of course, we can not use extensions to improve Facebook as we can do in any browser.
There is still a long way to go, functions to implement and errors to debug, of course. But it’s nice to see how great developers continue to support the universal Windows platform.
