Facebook Home, which will also come pre-installed on the new HTC First phone, will launch on April 12 in the United States, with an international roll out planned later this year.
The new app will not require users to modify their Android smartphones. Instead they can download the new app and use it as a replacement for their Facebook home screen.
The new app includes full-screen photos, stories, and will resemble the Facebook website timeline with a minimalist design.
According to Facebook’s product director Adam Mosseri, the new Home app will also allow users to process multiple notifications alerts at once.
One highly-anticipated feature is the Facebook Chat Head, which will let users send messages to friends without having to close other apps: when a message is received, the users are notified with a pop-up thumbnail of the callers face.
The new HTC First smartphone featuring Facebook Home will be priced at US$100 (B3,100).