Where using Facebook on iOS mobile devices was previously regarded by some as an "incredibly clunky and slow" experience, the Facebook community is rejoicing as the company rolled out a significant upgrade yesterday afternoon, putting a lot more speed and responsiveness into Facebook use.

Facebook's new app turns away from the nascent HTML5 platform, and instead operates as a native iOS app. Where the HTML5 version forcibly reloaded new data every time it was opened, the native version can run at improved speeds.

Some have projected that the new native app is fully twice as fast as the previous version.

It's not just improved performance that the new Facebook app is bringing with it, however, as the program will allow users to offer instant photo updates via new options located at the top of the News Feed.

These options allow users to snap a photo right away and put it on their updates, rather than going through the app to find the necessary commands to perform photo uploads.

Facebook's new app is a good sign in a sea of distressing signs, as reflected by the relatively steady decline its stock price since its IPO. While Facebook has needed to improve its mobile presence for some time, and the appearance of the mobile app is an excellent start, there still remains the obvious matter of Android. No improvements appear to be on the table for release any time soon for Android users, who would also likely appreciate a shot of mobile speed boosting in their Facebook experience.

But then, considering some of the issues Facebook's had of late in terms of advertising, maybe they've got bigger issues to deal with than the speed of the mobile app. Then again, given the increased use of mobile devices in general, perhaps this is just one more problem Facebook needs to tackle.

Still, any advancement that offers better service for users is worth applauding, and it's good to see Facebook moving in a direction that gives those users the better experience they needed. Hopefully Facebook can continue to improve and provide its users that vital extra support.