Facebook announced a fully-supported version of its SDK 3.0 for Android developers to link their apps to the social network. The beta version of the SDK was downloaded more than 80,000 times in six weeks of availability.

The new SDK adds additional native UI controls, simplified session management and improved API support.

The native Facebook Login functionality allows people to authorise permissions without leaving their app while Friends Picker lets users tag friends on the Facebook Open Graph or who have installed the same app. The SDK also includes Places Picker, which shows nearby locations, and the ability for Facebook profile pictures to appear in apps.

The SDK also has tools to simplify authentication and authorisation including a Login Button and Fragment that automatically manage login state.

The new technology also supports batch API calls which can speed up the performance of Android apps integrated with Facebook.

Developers can also measure clicks and installs for their mobile app ads using the SDK.

The SDK is backwards compatible for all apps that have integrated the 2.0 version of the Facebook SDK or above. Facebook will end support for the SDK 2.0 on 13 June 2013.