Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg this morning hosted a keynote event for the F8 developers conference, where he unveiled several new features that are coming to the social network.

Watch Party is a new Facebook feature that will allow you to watch videos while also chatting with your friends. When introducing the feature, Zuckerberg joked about his recent congressional testimony. "Let's say your friend is testifying in Congress," he said. "Now you can watch and laugh together, cry together."

facebookdating
Facebook plans to overhaul the Groups feature, which Zuckerberg says is one of the most meaning parts of Facebook. There will be a new groups tab to make groups more central to the overall Facebook experience. A new join group button and plugin will be available to developers and website administrators to make it easier for Facebook users to create and join groups.

The other major feature that's coming to Facebook is a dating feature, which Zuckerberg says is designed to help people build meaningful relationships. "This is for building real long-term relationships, not just hookups," said Zuckerberg.

The dating feature will be within Facebook, and it will be opt-in, allowing people to make a dating profile if desired. Facebook says the feature has been built with "Privacy and Safety in mind." Your friends will not see your profile, friends won't come up as dating options, and you'll only see suggestions of people who fit your preferences

For WhatsApp, Facebook's popular encrypted messaging app, Facebook will add Group Video calling features and it will expand WhatsApp businesses to allow larger companies to access WhatsApp for interacting with customers.

For Messenger, Facebook is redesigning the app's interface with a focus on making it clean, fast, and simple. Messenger will also gain the AR Camera Effects platform for using augmented reality effects when connected to friends and family.

Tag: Facebook

Top Rated Comments

chabig Avatar
chabig
102 months ago
I’d love to know who at Facebook thought adding a dating service to the app was a good idea.
It's a perfect fit for Facebook's mission--leave no lucrative data unexploited.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rogifan Avatar
Rogifan
102 months ago
I’d love to know who at Facebook thought adding a dating service to the app was a good idea.

Seems to me Apple would be the perfect candidate to build a simple Facebook competitor that doesn’t contain all the bloat. Of course something like this would need to be cross-platform/web. I can’t see Apple taking iMessage cross-platform because it would kill off the #1 reason to own a iPhone.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
smirking Avatar
smirking
102 months ago
I hate the way Facebook does things. It's such a mountain of bloat. Why do things simply and well when you can do it wildly inconsistently, change the rules a year later, torture 3rd party developers, and trot out Zuck for his latest mea culpa (not mea culpa)?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
trellus Avatar
trellus
102 months ago
It's puzzling to me why the dating feature would be walled off so tightly from friends. I think it's a perfect picture of our flawed collective mindset on "special" relationships: that dating someone and being a friend to that someone are incompatible experiences and different spaces.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tkermit Avatar
tkermit
102 months ago
Seems to me Apple would be the perfect candidate to build a simple Facebook competitor that doesn’t contain all the bloat.
Apple would be terrible at that, see Ping, social features of Apple Music (including Connect which is completely useless and will be abandoned eventually) etc. Doesn't seem like Apple really understands that space. Not that I think they should get into it any further. I'm kind of glad they fail at it. Let others do the 'dirty work'. Oh, and Facebook can go to hell, as far as I'm concerned.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
newjerseydamo Avatar
newjerseydamo
102 months ago
It's puzzling to me why the dating feature would be walled off so tightly from friends. I think it's a perfect picture of our flawed collective mindset on "special" relationships: that dating someone and being a friend to that someone are incompatible experiences and different spaces.
I was thinking the same thing.

If you're already friends but both match, then there's potential.

Of course there's the whole friend zone thing, but it could still be an avenue to try if the 2 of you match.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments

Popular Stories

Apple Logo Zoomed

Tim Cook Teases Plans for Apple's Upcoming 50th Anniversary

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026. "I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
Read Full Article • 148 comments
wwdc sans text feature

Apple Rumored to Announce New Product on February 19

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld. Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Read Full Article
Finder Siri Feature

Why Apple's iOS 26.4 Siri Upgrade Will Be Bigger Than Originally Promised

Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do. The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up. Upgraded Architecture The next-generation...
Read Full Article • 154 comments
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April. Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far. iOS 26.3 iPhone to Android Transfer Tool iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
Read Full Article • 37 comments
iphone 17 pro dark blue 1

iPhone 18 Pro Max Rumored to Deliver Next-Level Battery Life

Friday February 6, 2026 5:14 am PST by
The iPhone 18 Pro Max will feature a bigger battery for continued best-in-class battery life, according to a known Weibo leaker. Citing supply chain information, the Weibo user known as "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone 18 Pro Max will have a battery capacity of 5,100 to 5,200 mAh. Combined with the efficiency improvements of the A20 Pro chip, made with TSMC's 2nm process, the...
Read Full Article • 107 comments