Anyone that's ever been camping, at a concert, or simply out of a mobile carrier's service area can attest to how poor internet connectivity always seems to hit at the worst possible time.
A Facebook update announced this week aims to curve the problem by allowing News Feed posts and comments to upload when the app is in offline mode. The News Feed - Facebook's hub for anything and everything users' share - will update automatically, even in areas of poor service, so that new content reached the top of the home page once it comes back online.
"We are now testing an update in which we look at all the previously downloaded stories present on your phone that you have not yet viewed, and rank them based on their relevance. We also factor in whether the images for the story are available," the company wrote in a blog post.
The post continued, "This way we can immediately display relevant stories you haven't seen yet, instead of showing a spinner while you wait for new stories. When we receive new stories from the server when you're back online, we load and rank those stories normally."
Users have always been able to like or share content in offline mode, but this update gives them peace of mind that important stories won't be skipped or buried under irrelevant information.
The features are currently being tested in order to garner feedback, meaning there is not set date for an all-out update. The reason for this is that Facebooks wants all users to get the same experience, including places where the internet isn't readily accessible.
"These changes will help anyone who is on a poor internet connection - even those whose network connectivity is generally good but who have intermittent connections in places like subways and tunnels, or at large events," the post read. "None of these changes affect News Feed ranking. We are simply showing you the most relevant content as efficiently as possible."
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