You probably already use Facebook to find new things to do, but now, the social network is putting events front and center in a completely new app, available to download for free today. Events from Facebook (its icon is a white star against a pink ombré background) makes it easier to see your current and upcoming events.
Facebook Product Manager Aditya Koolwal explains in a blog post that the app is "designed for event seekers who are passionate about keeping up with nearby events and finding things to do with their friends."
After opening the app to a home screen showing that day's events, you can look through suggested events happening nearby or search for others by time, place, and activity category. So if you're in Charlotte, NC, and want to find a live music show happening at 10 tonight, you no longer have to search Google or Ticketmaster. You can just search within Events from Facebook and see a list of options in seconds.
You can also instantly sync events with your calendar, making it easier to keep track of your schedule — and ensure that you won't double-book birthday drinks on the same night as your friend's housewarming. What you do on the Events app will carry over to the main Facebook app, so friends who don't have Events from Facebook can still see what you've signed up for and get your invites. The app just makes it easier to find and handle events than Facebook's original app.
If keeping track of your Facebook invites and events has been an issue in the past, this app should help address the issue. At the least, it's made us almost forget about the, er...troublesome rollout of Marketplace earlier this week.