Everyone knows about how great and simple it is to stay in touch with your friends and family through Facebook. But what happens when your connection is somewhat flawed? Will you wait for your pictures or comments to load or will you lock your phone before the urge to stomp on it becomes more pregnant? Worry not, young facebooker, because Facebook gets an offline mode.

So, what does this “offline mode” entail? Well, you can try imagining this scenario: you are in the tube, waiting for it to stop. What do you do while you wait? Naturally, in most cases, people would simply draw out their phones in order to check out what happened on Facebook while they were away. Now, depending on your location, there is a high possibility that the signal in the tube could not reach your phone. No signal means no Facebook and no Facebook means no fun.

But Facebook managed to find a way around this thing. Facebook’s offline mode actually entails a series of updates capable of helping out older devices or people who are having connectivity issues. The main targets of these updates are those older devices that feature the 2G type connection. Instead of waiting around for signal, Facebook makes it easier for you. While the option in on, Facebook will start scouting the internet for news, posts, like and comments and sort of schedules them on your phone. After you get a decent connection, the application switches from offline mode to online mode, showing you the posts in a specific order.

Facebook spokespersons also added that the update is capable of making the application perform periodical retrievals of stories from your news feed and displaying them according to relevance. As stated, this application does not cover only older devices capable of handling only 2G type connection. Initially, the application was designed for those who either have a fluctuant connection or for those who are inside tubes, tunnels, where the signal is very weak.

It all seems like fun and games, but where’s the downside to all of it? Well, we could look at it this way. If you’re crossing a no-signal area, Facebook will naturally start ranking stories according to relevance. Once you cross that zone, you may have the surprise of finding yourself amidst a cascade of news and posts that may take their toll on your battery’s life, not to mention on your mobile data.

Whether this new update would prove useful or not for facebooker, remains to be seen.

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