Facebook adds new developer tools

Developers will be able to access Facebook components while offline

Facebook is offering new connectivity tools to third-party developers. The company announced on Monday that it will add new features to the popular social networking service which could allow developers to access components of the site offline.

The new API will allow developers to access the Facebook 'Stream', a component which tracks status and information updates from people on the user's friends list.

Additionally, Facebook has released its own tool which allows users to connect to the Stream feature offline. The new application uses the Adobe AIR platform to allow users to access the service from the desktop.

The company hopes that the new tools will allow users to access the service in third-party applications, and allow developers to implement Facebook's features into their own software and services.

"With the Facebook Open Stream API users will be able to use applications to read and interact with their stream," the company said on its Developer blog.

"As a Facebook developer you'll also be able to access the posts you've published into the stream and display them in your application, whether it's on a mobile device, web site or desktop."