Facebook is currently in talks with Apple to try and brings as much of the Android-based Facebook Home experience over to iOS as possible.
The news was revealed by Facebook’s director of product, Adam Mosseri, who has been speaking to Bloomberg on the matter.
Mosseri revealed that talks with Apple are ongoing. “We’ve shown them what we’ve built and we’re just in an ongoing conversation,” he said.
Facebook Home was announced on April 4. It’s a modified launcher app that will be available to download for free through the Google Play Store, and will provide a new Facebook-focused interface for Android phones.
While Facebook is known to have a strong relationship with Apple, as evidenced by the two companies working together to integrate Facebook into iOS 6, the iPhone 5 maker is not known for allowing third parties to take over its core OS.
iOS vs Android
The reason Facebook Home is feasible on Android is that the Google OS is completely open to modification without the approval or cooperation of the big G itself. iOS is completely different, and any version of Home would require Apple’s permission and help to initiate.
Mosseri acknowledges this, but points out that a compromise may be possible. “It may or may not be Home,” he says, before elaborating on some of the possibilites for Home on iOS.
“We could also just bring some of the design values to the iOS app. That might be how it ends up. Or we could build just the lock screen.”
It was also mentioned that Facebook was in talks with Microsoft over bringing Home to Windows Phone, though Microsoft takes a similarly hardline approach to Apple when it comes to tinkering with its sharply sculpted UI.
Would you welcome the ability to alter your iOS UI with Facebook Home? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
