Facebook Home includes new 'Chat Heads' messaging service

Right on schedule, Facebook has now announced its “Home on Android” launcher, bringing with it several features that help further integrate the Facebook experience into your mobile life. One of these features is the messaging program, Chat Heads.

The idea of Chat Heads is that messaging shouldn’t be a separate app that you have to switch in and out of to communicate with your friends, family and coworkers. How this works is pretty simple, and very cool. If some messages you, a “Chat Head” pops up in the corner, letting you know you received a message. This icon pops out regardless of whether you are on the home screen or playing a game like Angry Birds.

To interact with the “Chat Head’, you click on it and it brings up your conversation tab, right on top of the app you are currently in. Replying is simple, without getting in the way of what you were doing before the message arrived.

Don’t want to interact with a message right away? You can easily swipe the “Chat Head” away, or simply move it to another part of the screen until you have time to check it out.

Probably the most exciting part about “Chat Heads” is that it isn’t just about Facebook messaging, as it seamlessly integrates SMS as well. In fact, the way the “Chat Head” handles SMS isn’t any different from how a Facebook message works within the conversation window, other than the box is green, making it easier for you to know where the message originated.

What do you think about the new “Chat Heads” feature in Facebook Home, is it something you could see yourself using?