Facebook Rolls Out New One Column Timeline in India and Updates Chat Heads for iPhone, iPad Users

It looks like the news feed is not the only Facebook product getting a major refresh. For the past few months, Facebook has been testing a one-column Timeline layout that puts all the posts in one, larger column and everything else like music, photos, recent activity, and other Open Graph actions on the other side.

The social network has started rolling out the single column design for the Timelines to better organize the personal pages and places and to largely emphasise on communication between friends.

Content in the right-side column is fixed to show Friends, Recent Activity and other non-messaging updates and highlighted posts such as life events can no longer be stretched across the page.

Click here for Facebook smartphone concept images...

Click here for Facebook smartphone concept images...

The new redesign also does a makeover to the Timeline headers. Boxes that link through to Friends, Photos, Maps and Likes have been removed and they are listed in a menu which, when clicked, brings them up separately. Interestingly, relationship information has been removed from the header, which could perhaps be a focus on keeping personal details more private.

Futhermore, the About page has also got a facelift, with more focus given to personal interest including music, movies, books, TV and more and the apps that deal with them.

The new Timeline is indeed cleaner and easier to navigate as compared to the previous design, which displayed messages and updates on both right and left columns, making it easier to miss an update from a friend.

Meantime, Facebook Home may not be coming to iOS in its full, Android form any time soon, but chat heads have made their way to iPhone and iPad. Facebook has quietly updated its iOS app to v6.0 to include one of the best features from its recent Facebook Home app - Chat Heads.

Chat heads is a new way to interact with messages you receive on the social network. The feature allows users to continue what they are doing like browsing the news feed without interruption. Users can drag the chat heads and position them wherever they need in order to focus on what are doing.