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Facebook’s Updated Desktop Layout is Now Appearing for More Users
In what feels a little like deja-vu, Facebook has this week confirmed that more users will now start seeing its new-look desktop layout, which includes tabs along the top of the screen, and a more compressed view.
We actually reported back in September that more people were getting access to this new desktop presentation style, which Facebook first announced in May last year. It seems odd that it’s taking such a long time to make its way through the implementation pipeline, but Facebook is taking a slow and cautious approach, which includes asking those who have been granted access to the new format for their feedback on possible improvements as they go.
In order to access the new layout, once it becomes available to you, you’ll see a prompt in your News Feed asking you to check out the new features.
You can’t request access – as per CNET, the option is currently only being made available to a “small percentage” of users. Facebook says that its plan is then to shift into a much broader roll-out before April – which would make it almost a year out from the initial announcement of the update.
It’s not a major change – there are no amazing new functionalities or tools that you suddenly get access to in the new layout. But it does aim to improve desktop navigation – Facebook’s intention with the update is to bring the desktop version more in line with the mobile app, while also making it easier for users to switch between usage areas.
So, something to look forward to – if you don’t have access yet, it seems like you likely will sometime in the first quarter of 2020. Though given previous delays, don’t hold us to that.