Facebook has launched a major update for its Android app which improves on photo viewing, navigation, search and speed. The new update brings the app closer to the experience the iOS version provides – definitely good news for Android users, who have had to deal with an inferior version up till now.The new version brings three major changes – faster and better photo viewing, access to notifications from the main screen, and a sidebar which provides access to all your friends, pages, groups, etc. You can also use it to access your Facebook apps and games on the go.According to Facebook, photos and albums are now twice as fast as they used to be. The interface has also changed completely, providing a nice black background for viewing, along with easier buttons for comments and likes, and tags on top of the photos.The left sidebar resembles the one from Facebook’s iPad app, and along with easier navigation also provides easier search through all your friends, statuses, pages, etc. The notification bar, which hasn’t actually changed, was simply added to the main news feed page, which makes it easier to view notifications and chat without losing your place in the news feed. According to Facebook, those of us with timeline profiles should also see their timelines integrated into the app, but I haven’t seen mine yet. So what do you think of the update? Too little too late, or is this exactly what Android users have been waiting for?Get Facebook 1.8 for Android 1.5+ here.Source: Facebook Blog Tagged: android • Facebook • update