Facebook introduced at its annual developers conference F8 more than 25 new products and tools to help developers build, grow and monetise mobile apps. These include Messenger Platform, Businesses on Messenger, New Share Sheet, Facebook Analytics for Apps, LiveRail, Internet of Things, Social Plugins and Spherical Video Coming to News Feed.
With the new Messenger Platform, Facebook is introducing a way for apps to integrate with Messenger. Initially this will allow app users to send photos, videos and images from within the app to Messenger contacts. For developers, Messenger will provide additional opportunities for growth and engagement. This includes Businesses on Messenger, to provide a new way to communicate and interact with customers about their service needs through the Messenger app.
Facebook Analytics for Apps helps developers build enhanced apps and experiences for consumers. It provides developers with a single place where they can understand their audience, measure how people use their app across devices and improve their marketing campaigns.
In addition, mobile app publishers can now use LiveRail's monetisation platform to manage their video and display ads business. Additionally, the LiveRail ad exchange is enabling publishers to use Facebook's approach for delivering the right ad to the right audience, providing better results for campaigns.
Within the Internet of Things, developers can now use Facebook's mobile infrastructure platform Parse to build a new category of apps for connected devices, from garage door openers to smoke detectors to wearable wristbands. The Roost battery for smoke detectors will be among the first services to use Parse to send notifications about the state of the detector to the user's mobile phone.
Finally for consumers, Facebook introduced Spherical Video, an immersive, 360-degree video experience in News Feed that allows users to choose the viewing angle to explore their surroundings. The New Share Sheet function offers a simple, consistent experience for sharing from apps to Facebook.
Refreshed Social Plugins with updated designs and enhanced mobile experiences will help consumers engage with content off Facebook. The Embedded Video Player is a new social plugin that lets publishers embed native Facebook videos in a full-bleed video player. Consumers can now watch and interact with Facebook videos from anywhere on the internet.
