Loopt’s latest version that has been released today for the iPhone introduces users the freshly integrated and growingly popular Facebook Places tool. Soon to arrive to Android as well, this update marks more than another handy addition for users. This is a major step for Facebook’s social networking too, and a very good indicator of its growing popularity.

“Your Loopt friend list will have your Facebook friends on it, too! (These are also your Facebook friends who have checked in someplace using Facebook Places.) They will be marked with a Facebook graphic in the corner.”

Loopt has a very obvious goal to integrate with Facebook as much as possible, and attract a number to match of users to download the app. Facebook Places supports both existing Loopt and Facebook friends lists; enables users to locate nearby friends, comment on Loopt and automatically sync messages with Facebook, view location history and more. With its many features and perks in mind, the Loopt integration with FB Places is only the latest of a growing array of the tool’s supporters including Foursquare.

As covered here, despite of FB Places’ growing popularity, there’s a reason Loopt emphasized the privacy issue twice in its blog post. The social networking giant is undergoing very serious scrutiny due to user information leaks and / or trading by some its apps. This growing phenomenon also includes Farmville, which means that on top of handiness and good publicity, there will always be additional considerations.