“Finally!” We’ve all complained at the official Facebook app’s lack of urgency when delivering news and notifications. Let’s face it: it’s always been a mess. Thankfully, Zuckerberg’s staff have been working hard designing a new, improved version from the ground up. Version 5.0 has been “built for speed”, and it’s available now in the App Store.

Today we’re announcing an update to the Facebook app for iPhone and iPad that makes keeping up with friends faster and easier. Facebook 5.0 for iOS is twice as fast as the previous version when launching the app, scrolling through news feed and opening photos in feed.

App opens quickly

We’ve rebuilt the app from the ground up, so now the app opens much faster and your news feed and notifications load right when you open Facebook.

Stories scroll smoothly

As you scroll down your news feed, all your friends’ stories appear faster than ever. A banner lets you know when new stories come in, and you can tap once to immediately see the latest updates.

Photos load instantly

Tap on any photo and it opens right away. Pull down to close it with a single swipe.

My first impressions are really positive. Going from an app that would frustrate me so much that I’d often just forget about checking for updates, the experience is vastly different. The side bar loads almost instantly, as do notifications. I like the new, cleaner UI too. All in all, everything is purring along smoothly for now. Let me know your thoughts on the latest update, and if you have an issues with it. Use the comments below, or tweet me: @TiP_Cam