At first glance, it sure doesn't look like a Facebook app. But we assure you, it is.
If you didn't already spend enough time on your phone with the Facebook app open, the company wants to lure you in even more with the release of its new app.
What the "Notify" app will do is show news alerts on your phone, depending on your interests and which news outlets you choose to follow. Facebook has partnered up with quite a few mainstream publishers, such as CNN, Marketwatch, and Vevo, so that there will be no shortage of alerts popping up on your phone's lock screen, effectively "pulling" you back to your phone and hopefully, in turn, to the Facebook app. There seems to be something for every interest, ranging from your sports fix for specific teams, or being able to start your day with a weather forecast alert. Once you start using the app more, you'll start to know what exactly you'd like to have show up on your phone, and you can adjust that as you go within the app.
The balance needs to be correct though, since basically all your other apps are fighting for the prime real estate on that blank home screen of your iPhone with their popups and alerts. If Notify send out too many, that may also send out a bad signal. As a user, you'll be able to choose which news outlets you like, so that may curb the possibility of too many notifications showing up.
There is a difference between opening an article on your news feed and through the Notify app - Notify will send you directly to the publisher's page, rather than allowing you to read the article within the Facebook app itself. Even if you don't end up making it back to the Facebook app after using the Notify app, the insights that Facebook can gain from seeing what users like could eventually have an effect on what you see in your news feed, if this is their long-term strategy with the app.