Does anyone else find it odd that Facebook updates both the iPhone and Android clients on the same day, but with entirely different feature sets? Facebook for iPhone was just updated with a new and improved photo viewer (ported from Facebook Camera), faster performance, and in interface tweak. What does the Android version of Facebook get? Improved photo uploads, Emoji icon support, and the ability to create events from within the app.

Screencap from Engadget

The iPhone app was rebuilt “from the ground up to focus on speed” according to Mark Zuckerberg. While it may be a “big step forward”, the Android app is now in the lead in terms of raw features.

One of the new features involves posting wee little smiley faces all over private messages – but for some reason not in your news feed (you’ll see the Emoji icons right after you post them, but they will disappear). The feature did already exist on the iPhone version, using the built-in Emoji support. The Emoji icons do appear on the desktop version of Facebook.

The new Create Event tool includes dialogs for Title, Details, Location, Date, Time, and People Invited. It allows users to actually create and manage events from their phones, instead of only being able to join, decline, and comment. If you want to throw a party but don’t want to turn on your desktop computer, (or open the full Facebook site in your phone or tablet’s browser,) this feature is for you.

Emoji icons translate to Facebook-styled counterparts on the desktop site

Download Facebook for Android – FREE [Google Play]

Would you rather have a faster Facebook app with an improved image viewer, or the ability to create events on your phone? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.