Facebook users may have noticed some subtle changes in the past few days. But if you haven’t seen or read about the updates, here’s a quick review of what Facebook has changed while you were on Instagram:

New typeface

Facebook has modified its logo a bit by rounding off the letter ‘A.’ At first glance, it seems that’s the only thing Facebook changed, but the typeface of the logo has been changed as well, which means most of the letters look slightly different.

According to Josh Higgins, the creative director at Facebook, the change was done to modernize the logo and “make it feel more friendly and approachable.” A spokesperson for Facebook also explained that Eric Olsen, whose Klavika typeface was used in the original logo, helped develop the new custom typeface.

Howard Belk, co-chief executive and chief creative officer of branding firm Siegel+Gale, believes that the change is driven by mobile as the new logo is now more smartphone friendly.

New friends icon

Another change that you may or may not have noticed is the change in the Facebook friends icon. The icon used to depict two people, a man and woman, but the woman appears smaller than the man because she is standing behind him. The new icon now features the woman in front and appears to be more equally sized compared to the silhouette of the man.

Though some may not even look twice at the new friend logo, it has a deeper meaning. According to Facebook Design Manager Caitlin Winner, the old design made it look like the woman had a chip on her shoulder, and also wasn’t a fan of the woman’s hairdo. In the new icon, the woman now has more rounded shoulder, freeing her of the said “chip,” and her hairdo has also been updated to a more modern bob. As for the male in the friends icon, his hairdo was also updated and shoulder rounded.

Even the group icon has been changed, and it now features the woman in the middle instead of on the side, and her hair has also been updated to a modern bob.

“As a result of this project, I’m on high alert for symbolism. I try to question all icons, especially those that feel the most familiar,” Winner said in an article on Medium.

Floating videos

This change has not been implemented widely as it is still being tested, but some users may have noticed a new button when they play a video on their News Feed.

The new button, when pressed, will make the video float to the lower left of the screen and continue to play the video. You can reposition the small screen anywhere you please, but unfortunately, you cannot make the screen bigger. This allows people to watch the video and continue to scroll through their News Feed. The feature, however, disappears when the user navigates away from their News Feed.

These are just some of the recent changes on Facebook. If you notice any other changes you’d like to share with the rest of the world, give us a heads up by heading to our tips page.

Image source: Medium