THE technology industry loves its rumours, and in recent months they were whispering the same thing over and over again about Facebook is building a phone.

Apple does phones. Google does phones.

Why shouldn’t Facebook do them too?

But it turns out Facebook’s plan was actually much simpler and cheaper than that.

Instead of building a phone they’ve built software that makes other people’s phones more Facebook friendly.

That’s the thinking behind Facebook Home (www.facebook.com/home). It runs beautifully on the latest generation of Android phones, (made by companies such as Samsung and HTC, and using software from Google.

Android is a much more open and flexible system than Apple’s iOS alternative, and Facebook has taken advantage of that.

Home takes over your experience of using the device.

It becomes your lock screen, your primary text messaging system, and your gateway to all your other apps.

It introduces an idea called Chat Heads, a new kind of chat mode that keeps your contacts in sight – at the edge of your screen – even when you’re using another app for something else.

Home will also be available for iOS, but won’t feel the same, because Apple’s strict controls mean it cannot do the tricks that let it take control of an Android device.

Facebook is a company growing up alongside the internet and Home is a clear message that mobile is the way forward.

It wants to be with you wherever you go, whatever you're doing.

And if it’s a big success, who knows – maybe Facebook will build its own phone after all.

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