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Facebook puts game demos in your news feed

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Facebook news feed game demos
Look out for playable demos inside the Facebook app.
Photo: Facebook

If you think your Facebook news feed couldn’t possibly get any messier, think again. As of today, users will see start seeing playable game demos as they scroll their Facebook timelines.

The demos will let you enjoy sections of a game before downloading it to your device, Facebook says. Angry Birds developer Rovio is already reaping the benefits of playable ads.

Nuzzel highlights important news from your Twitter feed [50 Essential iOS Apps #28]

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Nuzzel news feed on iPhone
Nuzzel prioritizes the most talked about stories from Twitter.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

50 Essential iOS Apps: NuzzelTwitter is a great way to stay up-to-date with the news. A well-curated Twitter feed can provide important updates on topics important to you. Sometimes, knowing what is most important can be a challenge as conversations, memes, and social commentary overwhelm actual news updates. With Nuzzel, you can view a summary of the news stories everyone is talking about. Best of all, it’s personalized to you.

Facebook will demote spam posts that beg for attention

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Facebook employees
Facebook employees went through a tense 24 hours.
Photo: Facebook

Facebook has confirmed plans to demote posts that beg for comments, likes, and shares.

It will use machine learning to fight the “engagement bait.” The move, which will happen this week, will impact pages as well as people, so you’ll see fewer spam posts in your news feed.

Some Facebook users are seeing an alternate News Feed on iOS

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Some Facebook users now have a second News Feed.
Photo: Facebook

Some Facebook users have been surprised by the addition of an alternate News Feed within the social network’s iOS app.

Those who see the rocket ship icon along the bottom of the screen get access to a second feed of photos, articles, and videos that Facebook believes you might be interested in.

How to turn off sound in Facebook News Feed videos

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Some Facebook users now have a second News Feed.
Photo: Facebook

Facebook is making big changes to the way it approaches video. Videos in the Facebook News Feed previously played silently unless users turned sound on. Now if you want to keep the sound off, you’ll need to dig through your Facebook settings.

Turn off the annoying new feature with these steps.

How to get more news in your Facebook feed

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the Facebook logo on an iPhone 6 Plus
You Facebook feed doesn't have to be all about family and friends.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

If you’ve noticed a serious lack of actual news in your Facebook News Feed since the beginning of July, you’re not alone.

The social network recently made big changes to its News Feed algorithm to emphasize posts from friends and family, and fewer posts from the sites and pages you’ve liked. The end result has transformed many users’ feeds into an endlessly scrollable collection of baby pics, birthday posts and political drama no one wants to touch.

Thankfully, there’s a way to take back some control of your page so that important posts from news sites show up more frequently.

Facebook is making it easier to organize your News Feed

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Get ready for the Big De-Cluttering.
Photo: Facebook

Facebook is making a pretty big update to its iOS app today — for the first time ever giving users a major say in how their News Feed is organized.

As anyone who has ever agonized over whether to unfriend that one person who keeps on posting incomplete statuses like “had a bad day :(” will know, up until now Facebook’s News Feed have been pretty much left up to the company’s algorithms.

That’s about to change. And about time, too!

Facebook Paper For iPhone Is More Than Just A Beautiful Newsreader

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Facebook-Paper

Facebook today announced a new standalone iPhone app called Paper, and you’ll be pleased to hear it’s nothing like any of the Facebook apps that came before it. Paper’s main focus is to make all the news you’re interested in easy to access it, but it’s much more than just a newsreader; in fact, it does enough to replace the regular Facebook app for more users.

‘Friends Aloud’ for iPhone Lets You Listen to Your Facebook News Feed

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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTuniZZA1VY

A new iPhone application called Friends Aloud from VoiZapp uses state of the art text-to-speech technology to read aloud your Facebook news feed. It cycles through your friends’ status updates, as well as the associated comments, and reads them out in a pleasant, easy to understand voice.

For Facebook addicts Friends Aloud allows you to peel your eyes away from your iPhone or computer screen but remain up to date. Leave your device in your bag, pocket, or on your desk, and carry on with your day while you listen to everything that’s happening on Facebook.