Apple friends Facebook

Apple has finally added deep Facebook integration into its next generation operating systems, iOS 6 and Mac OS X Lion.

Social networking fans will soon be able to share photos, locations, links, game scores and apps with their friends on Facebook without having to visit the Facebook website on their computer or open the Facebook app on their smartphone.

"We have been working very closely with Facebook to create the best Facebook experience ever on a mobile device,” said Scott Forstall, senior vice president of iOS Software at Apple, during the opening keynote of this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). “We are integrating Facebook right into iOS 6."

Apple CEO Tim Cook first hinted at the Facebook alliance during an onstage interview at The Wall Street Journal’s D: All Things Digital conference in May, but the rumors have been ongoing since Apple revealed it would add support for Twitter integration in iOS 5.

Since then the number of Apple iOS users who have signed up for Twitter has tripled. To date 10 billion tweets and close to half (47 percent) of all photos posted on Twitter have come from iOS 5 users.

In iOS 6 Facebook support is baked into most of Apple’s default apps including Safari, Contacts, Calendar, Game Center, Photos, Maps, Notification Center and even Siri.

“Your Facebook friends’ information is kept up to date across all your iOS devices, automatically updating details in Contacts when they change, and scheduling events and birthdays in your Calendar,” said Apple. “You can also ‘Like’ content directly from the App Store and iTunes and see what your friends recommend.”

Deeper Facebook integration will also be added on the Mac with the launch of Mac OS X Mountain Lion, which will be available in July.

http://www.apple.com/ios/ios6/#facebook