Facebook placed special focus on user data privacy at its annual F8 developer conference, taking place this week in San Jose, Silicon Valley.
The world's largest social media platform has come under fire for not being transparent about how it collects data on users. CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared in front of US Congress several weeks ago to answer questions around this.
To appease some of the people calling for Facebook to be heavily regulated, it announced 'Clear History' this week; a feature that will let users delete their browsing history from Facebook and stop it tracking them.
Facebook says it will build this product over the next few months and work with privacy advocates, academics, policymakers and regulators to create it.
Clear History will let users see the Web sites and apps that send Facebook information when they use them, delete this information from their account, and turn off Facebook's ability to store it associated with that account going forward.
The social network said it might still use this information to provide reports to advertisers and Web site owners, but all identifying information will be removed.
Other than Clear History, new features for its various social media apps were also announced this week.
The dating game
One of the surprise announcements of the conference was that Facebook plans a feature within the app that will let people meet potential dating partners.
"People already use Facebook to meet new people, and we want to make that experience better. People will be able to create a dating profile that is separate from their Facebook profile; and potential matches will be recommended based on dating preferences, things in common and mutual friends," Facebook said in a statement.
The new feature will begin to undergo testing later this year.
Zuckerberg revealed during the announcement that there are 200 million people on Facebook who list themselves as single, and said this indicated there was clearly something that could be done about it.
Reuters reports that shares of established online dating service providers fell after this announcement. Shares of Match Group, which owns OKCupid and Tinder, closed down more than 22%.
WhatsApp video-call all
The WhatsApp messaging app first added voice calling in 2015, followed by one-to-one video calling in 2016, placing itself in direct competition with the likes of Skype and Apple's FaceTime.
The voice and video calls were popular, as they allowed smartphone owners to make calls to anywhere in the world without using their cellular plan voice minutes, as it relied on the phone's Internet connection.
This week, Facebook said it will add group voice and video calling to the app. It has not said if there will be a limit to how many people can call in, but has said it will be available in the coming months.
Instagram revamp
Facebook is also bringing one-on-one and group video calls to its picture-sharing social network Instagram. Users will be able to access the feature through Instagram Direct. It is not yet known if this feature will be limited to people who mutually follow each other.
The app's explore page will also be redesigned to make it easier for users to discover things they are interested in. The new explore page and video chat are in testing phase and will soon be rolled out globally.
Instagram will also open its story feature to third-party apps and services. Users will now be able to integrate what they are listening to on Spotify into their stories with a new share button.
The company pointed out this will not mean handing over more information: "You don't have to connect your Facebook or Instagram account to other apps in order to share to Stories," it said in a statement.
Messenger welcomes dark side
Facebook decided to separate its messaging service from the main Facebook app a few years ago; forcing users to download both apps if they want to message people on the main platform.
Since separation, it has come under fire for making the Messenger app too complicated and bloated. The Messenger team at F8 said they want to change this and simplify the app.
This will include 'night mode', which makes the background black and text white to reduce strain on eyes while chatting at night. Navigation tools will also be simplified.
It is also introducing a translation service for users who are using the platform to sell goods via the Marketplace feature. At the moment, only English to Spanish (and vice-versa) translations are available, but more languages will be rolled out soon, and the feature will be made available in other Facebook products.
Standalone virtual reality
Facebook's virtual reality (VR) hardware company, Oculus, announced at F8 that the Oculus Go is now available.
This headset is the firm's first standalone VR headset and does not require a smartphone to be clipped in, or for it to be plugged into a computer to work. The screen is built in with headphones in the straps. The all-in-one VR headset is available to order globally this week for the starting price of $199 (R2 500).
It will come with more than 1 000 apps, games and experiences available to download.
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