Ever since Facebook Paper debuted, it's the only Facebook app I've been using. Its simple, beautiful interface makes browsing Facebook posts and news stories much more enjoyable. Now, Facebook has issued its first update to Paper and it brings a lot of nice, new features and tweaks.
Perhaps the coolest addition to Paper is the ability to share any story you are reading to anyone you want. When you want to share a story in the new version, you still tap on the sharing arrow in the bottom right-hand corner of the story. The only difference is that now you have a lot more options. The updated version of Paper lets users send stories via text, email, Facebook Messenger or normally on a friend's Facebook wall.
The previous version only let you share stories among friends, which could be a bit annoying when you found a really good story that you wanted to text or email to someone outside of the Facebook universe. Although you can't text or email stories that don't link to any specific website, you can share any story that is an actual article posted online via text or email from the Paper app.
Facebook also added the option to post in Chinese, Korean, Japanese and several other languages to the app, which is handy for bilingual and trilingual users. The new update also lets you turn off the cute sound effects if you so choose. This is a great option for people who love to use headphones and hate disruptive notifications, as well as people who just don't like sounds or work in shared spaces.
Of course, Facebook Paper is still in its infancy and it has a lot more untapped potential, but this update brought some pretty cool improvements and they were all based on user feedback, says Facebook. Initially, Paper was number one in downloads of free apps in the App store, but downloads have since tapered off. Facebook needs to keep adding cool new features and improvements to keep it going. Spreading the word will also help the app grow.
Hopefully Facebook will release Android and Windows Phone versions of Paper soon. International Facebook users are also eagerly awaiting the arrival of Paper in their countries' iOS App stores. At the moment, Facebook is treating Paper like an interesting experiment, but it should really start treating it like what it is: a great, competitive app with global appeal.
