Chat Heads break out of Facebook Home and head to iPhone and iPad

Chat Heads break out of Facebook Home and head to iPhone and iPad
Chat Heads - still annoying

Facebook's bringing its multitasking Chat Heads to the Facebook iPhone and iPad apps.

The floating friend heads are a key feature of Android's Facebook Home interface, but since that's not on its way to iOS any time soon Facebook has added them into the apps instead.

You'll be able to do other stuff on Facebook while chatting in private messages as the Chat Heads will hover across the top of your screen until you flick them down to close them.

Emoticons have no feelings

The social network is also making like it's 1994 with new emoticon stickers that you can use in your chats - tapping the smiley in the text-input box lets you choose a sticker to post, while you can buy more from the Sticker Store if words fail you and that perfect emotion isn't represented in pictorial form.

Facebook emoticons

Finally, the iOS apps are also getting their mitts on the new-look Facebook News Feed in an update that puts the emphasis on bigger, more image-focused stories.

The updated apps will be available from the App Store later today, while Chat Heads and Stickers will roll out to the iPhone app over the next few weeks.

Android phones without Facebook Home can also get annoyed with the Chat Heads as they're also available in Messenger for Android.

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.