Facebook Notify: Facebook has found a way to send you even more notifications with their latest app
It's a little bit like Twitter, but your phone goes off every time something is posted
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Your support makes all the difference.If you've ever wished there was a way for Facebook to send even more notifications to your phone, then you're in luck - today, the world's biggest social network launched their new Notify app in the US, which sends users notifications about things they care about.
When they open Notify, users see a list of topics, ranging from Health and Lifestlye to Politics and Sports.
They pick the ones they care about, and then get to select a list of 'stations' from publishers related to that topic - CNN delivers breaking news, Vogue delivers best dressed lists, and the Weather Channel sends out a daily forecast.
Once they've picked their stations, users then get a string of notifications delivered to their lock screen throughout the day, which they can glance at to get the basic information, or open to see the full story.
As Facebook explains in a cutesy Notify video: "Whether you're a sports fan, a film buff, a news junkie, or a little bit of evertyhing, stay up to date with the things you care about, right on your lock screen."
Basically, it's a little bit like Twitter, except your phone buzzes every time something is posted.
This comparison becomes more obvious when you see the saved notification screen, which shows alerts that users have chosen to keep and read later - it looks almost identical to Twitter's home screen.
This could be a smart move from Facebook, however - Twitter users and worried shareholders have often complained that the site is too orientated towards power-users, making it difficult for newbies to get involved (possibly explaining the huge number of abandoned profiles floating around on Twitter).
By using Twitter's instant, short-form format and and making it easy for new users to build their own timeline, Facebook Notify could be seen as a slightly more user-friendly, stripped-down version of Twitter.
The launch of Notify also represents another step towards Facebook's ultimate goal of online domination.
They're already the leading social network, and with the recent introduction of Instant Articles that keep you on Facebook even when you read another website, and plans for Messenger to become an all-in-one communication system for the whole internet, Notify will bring even more people within the Facebook universe and keep them there.
It became available on iPhones in the US on 12 November, but there's no word yet on when (or if) it will make its way to Europe, or to Android mobiles.
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