Facebook is testing a new photo-viewing interface with a small number of users, and it bears certain… similarities to a competitor’s design. That competitor would be Google+, which uses a near-identical combination of black frame, large picture on the left, and comment stream on the right. See for yourself — above is the new Facebook interface, and below is a shot from Google+. Unoriginal it may be, but we think being able to view comments and the picture at the same time is a big improvement in this brave new world of widescreen monitors.
Facebook’s new photo viewer inspired by Google+?
Some Facebook users are reporting a new photo-viewing interface that bears heavy visual similarity to Google+‘s equivalent feature.
Some Facebook users are reporting a new photo-viewing interface that bears heavy visual similarity to Google+‘s equivalent feature.
It’s not the first time Facebook has been accused of lifting from its new rival, with its revamped Lists feature being pretty similar to Google+‘s Circles (which in turn was pretty similar to Facebook’s Groups). Maybe the next step is for Google+ to develop a Timeline-style profile banner — hey, Twitter just did it.
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