Users can join the alpha test group to access the new app version

Apr 2, 2014 18:51 GMT  ·  By

Popular social network Facebook has made available for download a new flavor of its pre-release app for the Android operating system, packing it with a series of user interface changes.

Apparently, the new UI has been pushed to all users who joined the Alpha testing program, after being released only to some of them a few months ago (only to be pulled soon after).

The new app version is said to be 9.0.0.0.18, but those who will grab it should keep in mind that it remains pre-release software, and that it will still carry various bugs.

In fact, Facebook also warns there might be a great deal of issues included in the alpha release and that users who download it accept that right from the start.

“Alpha is not for the faint of heart--features will come and go, crashes will be introduced and fixed, and designs may go through many iterations,” Facebook notes in Google Groups.

“The alpha version will look and behave differently than what ultimately gets shipped in a general release--we are continually testing and experimenting on alpha.”

Android users interested in learning more on what the official Facebook mobile client for their devices will be able to offer soon can now join the Alpha testing group to do so, as phandroid notes.

For that, they will need to head over to the aforementioned Group on Google+ and to sign up with the same account they use to download apps from the Google Play Store.

Next, they will need to accept to become testers, and only then the new version of the software will be accessible for them.

One other thing that should be noted here is the fact that those who are already beta testers will have to leave that program in order to receive access to the alpha builds.

Facebook also notes that those who receive access to the alpha version of the Facebook for Android mobile client should not distribute or make the builds available for others without written permission to do so.

Moreover, the company notes that it will collect detailed information about devices on which the app is installed, including Facebook content that is still on the phone’s memory but hasn’t been sent as of now.

Although there are a lot of risks and privacy concerns involved in installing the alpha version of the app, many people will certainly join the program in order to receive access to new features before the rest of the world does.