Facebook updates iPhone app to speed it up

(AP) Facebook wants to address what's perhaps the biggest complaint with its iPhone app: It's releasing an update that's faster.

Facebook Inc. says it is launching the newest version of the app on Thursday. Rather than add a slew of new features, the company says it rebuilt it from scratch to make it speedier and less clunky.

At a recent demonstration at the company's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters, the new app loaded about twice as fast as the older version on the iPhone. Photos and comments also load faster, and users can now "like" comments on photos.

Mobile is Facebook's biggest challenge as well as its biggest opportunity. That's where its user base is growing the most, but the company has only recently started showing ads there.