Facebook's Zuckerberg: Home is actually good for Android

The CEO of the social-networking giant says that his new product doesn't really compete with Android but may get developers to bring "high quality experiences" to the operating system.

Shara Tibken Former managing editor

Shara Tibken was a managing editor at CNET News, overseeing a team covering tech policy, EU tech, mobile and the digital divide. She previously covered mobile as a senior reporter at CNET and also wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. Shara is a native Midwesterner who still prefers "pop" over "soda."

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Shara Tibken

April 4, 2013 11:28 a.m. PT

2 min read

Watch this: Facebook unveils 'Home' for Android

04:06

Facebook's new Home family of apps might seem like a threat to Google, but Facebook says that actually the opposite is true.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, speaking during an event today in Menlo Park, Calif., said that "this is really good for Android."

"Most app developers put most of their efforts on iPhones," he said. "In a way this can start to bring some of these high quality experiences to Android and that could be good for Android."

He added that while there are not yet ads on Home, there will be, but Facebook wants "to make everything high quality."

Facebook may not have forked Google's operating system like Amazon has done, but there's no denying it's making some pretty big additions to the traditional Android interface. Users can message with friends and do other tasks seemingly without ever accessing Google's products.

And while Zuckerberg maintained Home is good for Google, he acknowledged that Facebook actually doesn't need Google at all to update or implement the Facebook apps. By comparison, to make anything Home-like for Apple devices, Facebook will have to work closely with the company.

"Anything that happens with Apple is going to happen with partnership," Zuckerberg said. "Google's Android is open so we don't have to work with them."